Christie's Life on Zack Island
by swiftpenguin
Summary: What do girls do when they are on a sunshine paradise island where you can play volleyball for money? Sun n' fun, tragic volleyball matches, sissy fights, swimsuits and accessories, what girls do!
1. Sunny Day on Zack Island

Dead or Alive Extreme Hip Volley Warning: If you are extremely sensitive to poor writing and sentences that get jammed in your brain and don't work properly with your mind AND stories which TRY to be funny but end up dead serious, then go back and read some exciting, action-packed, humorous story full of rude language.  
  
Disclaimer: They're not mine. Every single item, including the swimsuits are from the game. Happy now? chanting They're not mine. They're not mine. They're not mine... This is my first story, as I said a thousand times. You can't call me a liar, 'cause this is really the first story I'm going to work hard on. Now whether it's the girls who are hip or the volleyball, never mind that first. So hi, people! What's awaiting you is a wonderful story based on eight cute girls from Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball, and their lives on the sunshine paradise Zack Island. Now whom exactly am I fooling? What you're facing now is a load of rubbish about matching clothes, partner- ing, and suspecting the other characters (you'll soon know suspecting what). Sounds nice to me. You can really make stories out of what you see and experience in the game. Hint: Imagine you are your character. How would you feel if you ex-partner is now your best friend's partner? What if your ex-partner still wears that white hat you gave her? Try 'controlling' your partner's outfits to match yours by buying them accessories and swimsuits. Who knows you might conjure up a story! Enough talking, now let's get on with it!  
  
Chapter One – Sunny Day on Zack Island  
  
Christie came to Zack Island gleaming with sweat, covered with slabs of sun block lotion. She fancied a glass of icy tomato juice, with a cute little black umbrella in it. Arriving at the harbour, she glanced around. It was quite empty for such a paradise except for a badly tanned girl with auburn hair and creamy brown eyes that looked like the outgoing type. She was wearing a swimsuit – Brigit. Christie saw it in the Zack Island sports shop catalogue. Horribly cheap one. If you don't count how many Zack Dollars it's worth, the look of it is worth zero. She caught Christie staring at her and walked over to her. Oh no, she's starting a conversation, Christie thought. 'Hiya! I'm Lisa. Are you new to the island?' she asked with a cheery smile. '...yes. Christie. Nice swimsuit you've got there.' It was obvious that Lisa knew she was being sarcastic, but responded with a hearty laugh instead.  
  
'Really? I've decided to buy another one today. This one's worn up. To buy swimsuits I need Zack dollars, and to get Zack dollars, I've to play volleyball. Only I've got no partner. Wanna be my buddy?' she asked hopefully. Christie thought a while. It was sure cool to play volleyball and win money, but she cared about the tournament mostly.  
  
'I have to prepare for the tournament.' she replied, almost coldly.  
  
'Oh!' Lisa's eyes widened. 'I don't think Zack will ever held a tournament in a place like this. It's meant to be a joke. Anyway, he rich now, yes. But not after buying the island.' Christie's heart sank. After all that training and the prospect of slicing Helena into pieces!  
  
'Well, I guess I haven't any choices then.' She said, trying to smile, shifting uncomfortably.  
  
'Glad to be your partner.' Lisa smiled again.  
  
After unpacking in the hotel room, Christie set off with Lisa to play her first match of volleyball. Lisa led her to Niki Beach, a perfect place to play volleyball.  
  
'I'm so glad to have you to be my buddy!' Lisa spoke longingly as well as quickly as they paced along a pebbled road, as if she wanted to play volleyball right now and then on the spot. 'I longed to beat Kasumi and Ayane, the evil stepsisters. They really hate each other and it would be a miracle for them to be a team, but one day we played this dare game to dare them to be a team. Easy dare, actually. Can't believe they took it so seriously. Well, turned out they were a perfect match, seeing as their technique is quite high. Since then nobody was being able to beat them. ' Lisa laughed as they headed for Niki Beach. 'Oh, we're there already.'  
  
Christie didn't listen to a word of Lisa. They were all the same. People. They think Christie is cold and cool, well, although she doesn't think so herself, she prefers to be called 'the cool one with the magnificent white hair'. Many had questioned her if she was an albino. Of course, every time she said, no, she wasn't an albino for God's sake.... Once again, she said she wasn't one just to lessen the stupid questions of 'concern', asking her worryingly if she can stand the sun of the island and you'd-better-not-go- there. Christie knew they were plainly trying to get rid of a major enemy in the tournament.  
  
She stood there in front of Niki Beach, where a neat volleyball net stood on the smooth, white sand. The two famous fighters – or players – whatever, were warming up on the other side of the net, unaware of their arrival.  
  
Christie had seen them both in the Dead or Alive 3 Tournament. They were very difficult to beat, especially at tag battle, when one of them grouped with Hayabusa, who always used his irritating 'throw-you-up-in-the-air-and- smash-your-head-on-the-ground' skills. The memories were still fresh, Kasumi's superb (Christie hated to admit that) throws, Ayane's lightning spinning......  
  
'Chris?'  
  
Christie jerked awake, the memories drifting away.  
  
'What?' She asked, almost snapping.  
  
'We're about to start the game, better do warm-ups first. Those guys are tough.' Lisa said, as if reading Christie's mind.  
  
Across the net, Kasumi seemed to have remembered Christie too. They glared at each other...........although Kasumi didn't seem like the glare-type, it looked like a glare anyway. 


	2. Kasumi and Ayane

Chapter Two – Kasumi and Ayane  
  
It seemed to last forever. They both wanted to stop but they can't. It was just too weird, some months ago they were fighting for their lives and now, they're all dressed up in sexy bikinis to play against each other on an island paradise. To play volleyball. Perfectly peacefully.  
  
Kasumi seemed to be afraid of Christie's pure-venom stare. She appeared to be trying hard not to tell Ayane about Christie's presence, to unable all communication between herself and Ayane, because they were supposed to hate each other. Christie almost laughed at the sight. Silly college girls. Never minding the warm-ups, she continued to enjoy the sight of the confused Kasumi.  
  
Lisa, who had finished her own business, apparently DIDN'T notice their strange behavior. Scooping up the ball, she spoke loudly to everyone, 'Okay, let's get on with it. I can't stand the excitement.' Then, whispering to Christie, 'Let's just get it over with. But remember to keep track of their movement. THEN we can learn their weak points.  
  
Christie looked like Lisa had just said something very stupid. Ayane and Kasumi actually glanced at each other for a fraction of a second. Actually Ayane started it first. Could they be thinking the same thing at the same time? It's a pity that they're enemies.  
  
Without warning, Lisa served.  
  
The ball flew across the net, and the half-sisters, with immediate sense, paid all attention to the yellow-and-white volleyball. Ayane, as if forgetting about Kasumi, spiked the ball as hard as she could. Christie, good at defense and tall, tried to push the ball across the net before it could come over. She soared – stretched her arms – and missed. The ball hit sand and bounced off. Lisa looked as if she was trying not to cry. Though Christie looked as if she doesn't know how people feel, actually she does. Damn good at it too. She just thinks that doing the actual caring is unimportant. Knowing how they feel is but very useful in the job of an assassin. Good for tracking and detective work before the killing.  
  
0-1  
  
It was Ayane's turn to serve. A tint of pride was already in her eyes. More like 70% of pride and 30% of despise. Her power was low, but her technique was super. She knew how to control where the ball goes, an how it goes. The ball landed right between Lisa and Christie. Both were too slow to move.  
  
0-2  
  
Ayane almost laughed. Kasumi, however, looked reluctant to beat them, especially with her enemy, Ayane.  
  
Suddenly, an idea floated into Christie's mind. Yeah, they don't pop into her mind. For Chrisite, they float.  
  
Kasumi and Ayane are enemies. They do NOT cooperate with each other, right? It's always Ayane who gets the serve, while Kasumi does the dirty work (like always passing the ball to Ayane so she can have a chance to spike). That's their weakpoint. All you have to do is to make the ball get to Kasumi's side. Ayane, because of her huge pride, will NOT go over to get it. Kasumi will have a chance to get it. As she will be too shy to pass it to Ayane, she'll throw it across the net by herself. With such low power, the ball will just come over the net, making a chance for Christie or Lisa to spike. As they both have stronger power than Ayane or Kasumi, they will perform quite a good spike. Kasumi hasn't recovered from her throw, so Ayane has to get the ball. Fortunately for Christie's team and unfortunate for Kasumi's, Ayane has horribly low defense too. She will not be able to handle the spike herself without slowing the energy. Thus, she'll collapse.  
  
Christie was quite proud with herself for thinking of such an idea. She told it to Lisa.  
  
'Hey, that sounds good. Okay, we'll try. If that succeeds, we'll be history.'  
  
Christie didn't think that winning a match of volleyball would make them history, but anyway.  
  
Lisa glanced at Kasumi with what she thought was a fierce look.  
  
Kasumi merely looked taken back.  
  
'Don't waste my precious time, girl! Serve now and get over with it! I need to do my beauty treatment!' Ayane called.  
  
Lisa gave her the so-called fierce look, and made a powerful jump serve.  
  
Kasumi, astonished that she actually got a chance in even touching the ball, was a bit slow. As guessed, she made a feeble toss, which made the ball come just over the net. Christie knew what she should do. She soared up. All time – the ball, herself – seemed to have slow-motioned. The ball was closing in. She was at the same level with it. It was coming closer, closer. No time to dream before it hits your face, she thought. She put all her strength into her right arm – and punched as hard as she could. At least that's what she thought. A micro-second before her hand touched the ball, time went normal again. The ball seemed to gain its strength, soaring with all its might into her face.  
  
BANG.  
  
Christie felt nothing. Her strength was put into her arm, but now it seemed limp, having punched thin air. Did she have a black out? No, I've got to wake up....we'll continue the game..........She opened her eyes with all her might.  
  
'UGH!'  
  
Blazing sunlight torched her eyes aflame. Wait, does that make sense? No, it doesn't.  
  
Her mouth was full of sand; her nails too, were uncomfortably stuffed with sand. The moment she gained her consciousness, searing pain broke out on her face.  
  
'AARRRRRRRRGHhhhhhhhh..........'  
  
She rolled pathetically on the sand, the sun setting her face on fire.  
  
'Hey, are you okay? Let's get back to the hotel, shall we?' Lisa's voice rang through her head.  
  
'No...no.....I'll...I'll go by myself.....'  
  
Giggles were heard in a distance. If Christie didn't know they were from Ayane and Kasumi, she would've thought there were giggling angels all around her.  
  
Now they gave an image of two boil-covered green witches cackling.  
  
She managed to climb up by herself and head back to the hotel. 


	3. For the Sake of You

FINALLY – Chapter Two  
  
Chapter Two  
  
For the Sake of You  
  
Christie woke up with a start, panting hard, sweating all over. The vision of Helena standing over her, laughing like a maniac, was still in her mind, as if someone had pressed it forcefully to her eyes. Helena had defeated her.  
  
She walked over to the mini bar installed in her room poured herself a cuppa. She had had these dreams ever since the DOA Tournament. Though they were terrifying and made her exhausted, they motivated her to win the next tournament. More importantly, defeat that blasted Helena. She had defeated Helena in the last tournament, but she still had these dreams. Maybe it was because she was so desperate to beat her. Kasumi and Ayane were also included in her vivid dreams.  
  
Relax, she thought, as she stirred her tea. You're on a beautiful island without worries, and the next tournament is ages later.  
  
She sipped her tea and stepped out onto her balcony. The crescent moon hung lazily and as the stars blinked innocently in its company. What a wonderful view. Back in England, the weather was always grey and misty. Or was it my mood?  
  
A gentle breeze blew by, and a drip of sweat dripped into her last remaining drags of tea. She glanced at her White Analog Wristwatch as she stepped back into the room. Three thirty in the morning. The sun would come up soon enough. No point going back to sleep now.  
  
She took a cold shower, taking her time. When she came out there was a tint of pink in the sky. She opened her wardrobe. There were only a few things inside it. The outfit she wore when she first came, her white fighting suit she brought when she thought Zack was holding a tournament here, her only swimsuit Lapis Lazuli, underwear, and a pair of leather shoes. Better go to the sports shop for some new outfits. She climbed into Lapis Lazuli with immense difficulty. She had bought it at 18.  
  
She was not worried of the extreme power of Kasumi and Ayane and Lisa's desperation to beat them. There were plenty of other contestants to choose from.  
  
She stood on the balcony, gazing at the rising sun and the pink clouds and whatever was ahead of her.  
  
Nothing can stop her from winning.  
  
'- and she can be really strong. Once, my partner was blocking her spike. Or at least she tried to. And Tina just continued her spike. The ball hit my partner square in the face. Hard. She fell down sideways with a yelp and Tina's team was awarded 2000 nice points. 1000 for a good spike, 1000 for making my partner fall.' Lisa scooped a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. 'You do know what nice points are, do you?' She said through a mouthful of cereal. Her cereal almost fell out of her mouth as she said this. 'Oh, sorry.' She wiped her mouth. Lisa was talking for a long time now and Christie was only half listening.  
  
They were in the canteen. The place was fan-cooled and tropical. Half of it was out in the air, on wooden boards. The other half was not really indoors either, as it had so many windows. They had no idea why Zack made such a big place for a mere eight girls. There were no people to serve them, except the chefs in the kitchen. Stood against the walls were actually buffet tables. (a/n: just like Club Med). The food depended on the time, and the day. Everyday they had food from different countries, and Zack's excuse for that is 'the girls are from so many different countries'. Today they had Chinese. On the buffet tables were plenty of Dim Sum, noodles, fried rice and tea. Of course, there were the usual cereal and orange juice.  
  
They sat under the sun, because Lisa wanted a bit of a tan (as if it's not enough already) and Christie felt the fans inside a bit too irritating. They were messing up her hair. Not that she cared, but she wanted to look cool enough to make people think she's a hard opponent. Now that they were out in the blazing sun and Christie regretted coming out already.  
  
'See that girl over there?' Lisa gestured to a dirty blonde about the height as Lisa. Still, she had strong muscles in her arms. The girl must've done push-ups everyday. She was talking animatedly, laughing, and was even more talkative than Lisa, though not as friendly. Christie fantasized about beating her in volleyball. Of course, she had met her before, in the tournaments. But Lisa didn't know that. She didn't know that all of the girls on the island knew each other beforehand. 'She's a professional wrestler. We lived in the USA before.'  
  
Christie's dream of beating her vanished. If they were friends, beating her would be difficult. Lisa wouldn't want to beat her dear friend.  
  
'You're British, aren't you?' Lisa asked again. Christie nodded. Lisa glanced at a magazine. She was on a page where there was a profile of the girls. The magazine was actually only sold on the island, and it contained plenty of fashion advice. Zack didn't want the girls looking like a bunch of normal people. They needed to develop their fashion sense.  
  
'Let's see...who'll be our opponents today............'  
  
As she flipped around the pages, a girl with purple hair strode over to their table. She had an uncertainty in her bright red eyes, a kind of despising and playful look on her face. She was their opponent yesterday.  
  
'Oh, nice day, is it?' Lisa greeted her.  
  
The girl thought high of herself, and didn't mind to be polite at all. She ignored Lisa.  
  
'Nice suit you're wearing.' She sneered at Christie. Christie gave her a hard stare, daring her to say more. The girl, however, was not touched. She gently snatched the magazine from Lisa's hands and flipped to the catalog. On the verge of laughing, she handed it over to Christie.  
  
It was Lapis Lazuli on the top right corner. The girl tapped at it with her purple fingernails. 'Have you got any taste at all? Pathetic. 90,000 dollars. That's about the same price as Opal. Ugh!'  
  
Christie didn't show any signs of weakness. The girl was at least 5 years younger than her.  
  
'Get lost, Ayane.' She said, boring into Ayane's red pupils.  
  
'Oh yeah?' Ayane chimed. 'I was kind enough not to show you this, but-' She laughed shrilly. All eyes were on Christie now. '- as you asked for it....' She flipped to the news page. There was a big photo in the centre, a few small photos around it, and a big headline. It made Christie sick to the stomach.  
  
An Assassin's Close Encounter with a Volleyball  
  
Yesterday, infamous assassin Christie had a close encounter with a volleyball during a match against Ayane, also an assassin, and Kasumi. Partnered with Lisa, the local tour guide, Christie bravely faced a match against them, unaware of the powers of the two stepsisters. Ayane sent a powerful spike when Christie tried to block her, but that was a bad decision. Christie seemed to have high self-esteem and underestimated them. The ball hit her square in the face. She fell to the ground and ate sand while Lisa tried to revive her. Finally, after 5 minutes of awkwardness, she regained consciousness and stumbled her way back to the hotel, rejecting medication.  
  
Her swimsuit, Lapis Lazuli, can be found in the catalog on page 24.  
  
Christie was full of rage. Lisa looked concerned. That explained why Lisa had the magazine to herself. She didn't want Christie to see the article. In the centre of the page was a snapshot of Christie getting hit by the ball. Around it were photos her getting up and stumbling back to the hotel. There were silly captions as well.  
  
'Who took these?' She asked Ayane, struggling to remain calm and cool.  
  
'How should I know if Zack put a few secret cameras around?' She sneered. 'Nice photo, that one. Caught you just in the right time.'  
  
Lisa saw that Christie was about to beat Ayane into a pulp. The last thing she wanted was a bad start for Christie and a wounded partner. She didn't know about Christie's fighting skills, though. 'Would you please go away, Ayane? We need to prepare for our next match.'  
  
Before Ayane could answer, though, a loud bang came from a corner of the outdoor canteen. That was the sunniest bit of dining place anyone could find. Tina and another girl were face to face, fists clenched, raging at each other. The loud bang came from the table toppling over at Tina's pounding fist.  
  
'IT WAS YOU WHO CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF BEATING THEM!!!!!!!' Tina shouted at her, her face red as anything. She was wearing a bikini with patterns of the American flag on it.  
  
'So what if it was?!?!?! We would have won if you didn't attempt to block their spike!' the other girl tried her very best to shout, but her little voice can't do that as well as Tina's. She was wearing a pink headband and looked no more than 18 years old. She obviously didn't want this argument to happen.  
  
'AND NOW YOU'RE BLAMING ME?!?! AFTER WHAT YOU DID WITH YOUR LOUSY TECHNIQUES?!?!' Tina cried. Drops of sweat glided down from her forehead. The blazing sun was already scorching their skin as they stood there. The stars on Tina's swimsuit glistened. The other girl can't stand it; she broke down and cried. What a pathetic scene, Christie thought, she's so young. Lisa seemed to think on the same lines too. As the girl forced to wipe her tears away, Tina didn't waste time shouting anymore.  
  
'I'm not going to partner with you, ever again!' And Tina stormed off. To where, only God knows.  
  
Few people were sympathetic for the little girl. An exotic girl with her hair tied into dainty little braids went over to comfort her. Kasumi seemed touched, but after Ayane shot her a filthy glance, she just stood stiffly there. Ayane didn't want anyone to think that they were friendly, or worse, let Kasumi ruin their image. Ayane, in fact, looked as if she hasn't a care in what's going on. She continued to her noodles. What a depressing lot of people. Almost everyone's actions are controlled by others.  
  
Christie returned to her rolls, munching lightly, trying to forget what has just happened. That was two opponents off now. All that was left was a French girl with extremely long white-blond hair flowing down to her waist – Helena and the Asian girl. Christie felt her mind's familiar response to the name Helena. Christie had worked for Helena as a personal slave at Helena's mansion. Christie was hired by the Antis-Douglas group to keep an eye on her. The work wasn't a bit fun, though she got to keep the suit she wore as a slave. Christie beat Helena in the tournament, and nothing was new to them since what they encountered. Helena was a good person, with a supreme air of elegance. She remembered how she sat on the bay-window, locked in her own room in her own mansion, while Christie served her. Helena's favourite food was a nice plate of blancmange. Her mansion was not a joke – it sat on a cliff, its many rooms lit with beautiful candles.  
  
As for Lei fang, the Chinese girl Christie had met before in the tournament was no competition for her. She practised Tai Chi Quan, and for Christie's She (pronounced sher) Quan, she was way too slow. Her main purpose for entering the tournament was to beat Jann Lee, her rumoured crush.  
  
However, they only get to beat them if they were in the same team. Christie hoped that Tina wouldn't team up with one of them. It would've made things harder for one thing. Christie didn't think Hitomi would have the mood to team up with anybody. Hitomi was the girl who was crying after being shouted at by Tina. Hitomi was half-Japanese and half-German. Her German father had taught her Karate and she was quite a hard opponent in the tournament.  
  
Lei fang said some soothing words into Hitomi's ear, and she nodded. She accompanied her to her room. Christie scanned the area. Helena was eating her noodles (Christie remembered she liked changing her eating habits, although she was spoiled by her rich father), Ayane and Kasumi leaved shortly after Lei fang, and Lisa was just standing around.  
  
'Really. I never imagined such things would ever happen here.' Lisa shook her head. She didn't know what to say after seeing her best friend Tina hurt Hitomi like that. She heaved a sigh. 'I'm going to see Tina. Meet me at lunch. Bye.' Maybe she knew Tina needed some consulting after that. She was quite experienced at Tina's behaviour, since they grew up together (a/n: let's pretend they grew up together, ok? ;-))  
  
Christie hastily finished her cereal and thought what to do next. She can't see her partner until lunch and she didn't have any other friends. There was still Helena though...she and Helena had made up after Helena found out she was spying at her. They were supposed to start all over again and pretend that nothing happened. Days were harsh in Helena's life, with so many Anti-Douglas people watching her. It was hard to come up with a friend. Christie walked over to her.  
  
Helena had finished her noodles and was gazing at the beach, cross-legged. Her hair was flowing even though she tied it loosely with a gigantic silk pink ribbon. She looked up when she saw Christie.  
  
'Hi...' She greeted.  
  
'Hi. So...what are you planning to do this morning?' Christie said. 'How are you doing lately' was out of the question. Not a single day was good these days.  
  
'Just having a walk along the seaside, collect some shells.' Helena's gaze shifted to the beach once more. She waited for Christie to reply, but she knew she was too cool for that. She was making things hard for her now. To make things easier, she said, 'Care to join?'  
  
Christie nodded. 'I have nothing else got to do.'  
  
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING MAY CONTAIN BORING SCENES  
  
Together they walked along Niki Beach. They didn't speak much; there was nothing to say. When Helena spotted a seashell, she'd examine it. She told Christie how to choose the right ones. Not that Christie cared, but she listened politely anyway.  
  
'They can't be chipped and there mustn't be any dirt inside. Also, ' Helena cast a glance at Christie. 'Make sure it's not alive.'  
  
'So that means it just has to look okay?'  
  
'Yes.'  
  
Helena mostly hunted for white shells. Then, Christie joined in too. Once, they spotted a peach coloured conch as big as a beach ball. Surprisingly, Helena gave it to Christie.  
  
'I have lots of those at home. You can have this one.' She said, half-boasting. Christie accepted the gift awkwardly with a mutter of thanks.  
  
Their walk in the sand didn't take long though. It was 10:30 and Christie still had nothing to do. Helena had gone back to her room. To comb her hair, I expect. After Christie took the conch back to her room, she fell asleep on the bed, hoping to wake up at noon.  
  
She woke up just in time for lunch. She had a big breakfast so she decided to skip it. She headed toward the canteen anyway to check if Lisa was there. Turns out she was not. She found Lisa's room and knocked on the door but no one answered. At last, she decided she might be in Tina's. She stepped to the door cautiously and knocked. 'Come in,' a cheerful voice called. It was Tina's voice.  
  
She went in to find Tina in front of her vanity desk and Lisa sitting on her bed. The room, if you can call it that, was cramped with posters of Tina herself as a model. The bed was actually a copy of the American flag. Everything seemed to have Tina's own style in it. Her few swimsuits hung on starry hangers openly on the balcony to dry off.  
  
'Hi.' Christie said, astounded by the décor of Tina's room. She wanted to make things quick. She wanted to win a match quickly and get over with it. 'Lisa? Are you ready?' She tried not to be impolite.  
  
'Erm....you see........' Lisa glanced repeatedly at Tina. Tina caught her eye and smiled. 'I'm off for a swim. See ya!' She winked at them and dashed out of the room a bit too quickly.  
  
'...........'  
  
Lisa plucked up the courage. 'Well, since Tina had a bit of a problem with Hitomi, I'm teaming up with her. Just smoothing things over. She seems so distressed by that Hitomi lately.' Lisa managed to force a smile.  
  
Christie gave her a look. How could she do that? She desperately needed a match now to show Ayane what she was made of, and here Lisa split up with her.  
  
Lisa's short brown hair danced by the breeze from the balcony. Her eyes shone with a plea for forgiveness. A cool breeze blew by, cooling Christie's hot face from the agony.  
  
'You did that?' She said, trying to sound as cool as possible. She did not wait for Lisa to reply. No more rubbish now. She backed away from her. 'So...bye.' She walked her way back to her own room. What can she do now? Random thoughts swarmed into her mind. She did not blame Lisa. She knew she had her own reasons. But did inside her, she did feel like blaming Lisa for what she gone through. She lied on her queen sized bed staring at the bare ceiling, wondering what to do.  
  
Since she was bored to death, she rolled over and fell asleep again.  
  
When she woke up, she had a slight headache. So much sleeping had made her drowsy and weaker than ever. She limped to the balcony.  
  
By golly it was already sunset!  
  
A huge fireball was halfway into the blue ocean. The clouds around it were fiery red, along with some purple ones. The sight was breathtaking. She had done nothing today but the reward was her very first glimpse of a sunrise and sundown. As a child she never appreciated nature. She always thought waking up early just to see a red ball come up was a waste of time. It was a nice day to play volleyball. How beautiful it would be to play volleyball at sunset. .........  
  
She made her way to the private beach and saw several campfires on the sand. They were handmade out of wood. As the fire cackled softly, a shadow appeared. It was Hitomi. She was dancing the hula. Or at least attempting to. She probably danced to relieve stress, though her profile in the magazine said she liked to cook. Christie watched her pointlessly. The girl was concentrated on dancing most, but she noticed her.  
  
'Oh hi there. You must be Christie.' She said, continuing her dance. Her voice was unusually sweet and high, like a seven-year old girl's.  
  
'Hi.'  
  
'Nice sunset, huh?' She caught her staring at the distance.  
  
'Yeah.' She paused. 'How are you doing?'  
  
Hitomi must've thought she refered to her argument with Tina that morning; there was a notch in her voice. 'Yeah, I'm fine.'  
  
Then there was deadly silence except for the African drums (on Hitomi's radio) in the background, the small shifting of the sand and the gentle lapping of the waves. Suddenly, Hitomi fell. Christie, with her lightning reflexes, caught her.  
  
'Thanks,' Hitomi gasped.  
  
'Did you sprain an ankle....?' Christie had no idea why she was suddenly so worried about her. Maybe she was too desperate to play at that time, or maybe it was Hitomi's childish look.  
  
'No, I'm fine.'  
  
An idea floated into her mind. Yes!!!!!! That was it!!!!!!!!!  
  
'Do you want to be my partner?' She asked casually. There was a mixture of emotions on Hitomi's face. Sorrow, frustration, happiness. She'd love to play volleyball again, Christie assumed. She, too, was bored sick.  
  
'Sure.' Hitomi said smiling. 'Can't wait to beat them.' 


	4. ExtremeVICTORY!

Christie's Life on Zack Island

Chapter Four

Extreme........VICTORY!!!!!

a/n: Check out my sister's fan fiction If you like. Her username is alennademi688211. Yes, and her's is way better! I was wrong last time. Helena's hair is down to her knees, NOT down to her waist! Sorry about that!

Day 3: Christie went down to the dining place to have breakfast with Hitomi. She was incredibly hungry. The theme today is Japanese, which meant sushi, sashimi, large amounts of udon noodles, and green tea ice-cream were prominently displayed on the long buffet table. She came over to Hitomi's, scooping some thin noodles into a bowl.

'Good morning! Slept well?' Hitomi said cheerfully, eating an eel sushi whole.

Christie ate her noodles, dry. 'Yeah, kind of.'

Hitomi smiled. 'You need sauce to eat that.' She poured some black sauce into a dish and dipped Christie's noodles into it. 'There!'

Christie looked bewildered. Noodles with sauce?

'Er...thanks.' As Hitomi was her new partner, manners were important. Hitomi smiled and stuffed a tuna sushi into her mouth. She seemed to enjoy the Japanese food. Christie scanned the area. Lisa and Tina were chatting animatedly. They ate their eggs and toast as usual. Helena was sitting in her seat, stirring a cup of mocha coffee. Ayane and Kasumi were nowhere to be seen, and Lei Fang seemed to enjoy her green tea ice-cream a lot.

Christie waited for Hitomi to finish her huge breakfast before talking to her, so that she can prevent seeing the bits of rice and seaweed wobbling in her mouth.

'Who are we playing today?'

'Are you really that concerned? I think......' Hitomi flapped her catalog. That damn catalog. Christie wondered who wrote it.

'No, I dunno....' Hitomi mumbled. Christie saw why. She can't see Tina because it would be so embarrasing. Lisa wasn't a choice as well because she had only split up with Christie yesterday. Lei Fang was her best buddy, and Ayane and Kasumi had just humiliated Christie the day before yesterday. Christie almost sighed. Oh well, for Hitomi's sake then...

'We'll play with Ayane and Kasumi then. Let's split them up. Once they lose, Ayane wouldn't be too keen to stay with Kasumi any more.' Christie suggested hopefully.

'Is it okay with you? I mean the article that day......' Hitomi trailed off, aware of making Christie angry. Instead, she shook her head.

'No...it would make me happier to see them-' She almost said 'die'. She continued. '-lose.'

Back at the Private Beach, Kasumi was playing on the swing. Ayane was pacing slowly on the sand before Christie and Hitomi arrived. Ayane tried her best to hide her surprise.

'I knew you'd come. Revenge or what?' She smirked. Kasumi was still playing on the swing like a little lass. Christie decided to get things done with.

'Shut your purple mouth and let's start.' Christie snapped. They stood in their positions. Ayane served the ball swiftly. Surprise, surprise, it was purple.

It was a light serve. Christie had discussed the tactics with Hitomi earlier and they were going to flatten them. Yes...

She passed the ball softly to Hitomi. Hitomi passed the ball with huge force toward above the net. Christie jumped up. Ayane and Kasumi were both slightly in back court. They feared Hitomi's strong spikes would hit them. Christie feinted the spike, letting the ball topple over the net.

1-0

'Hey, you can't do that!' Ayane cried out, simply filled with anger of their easy score winning.

'Oh yes we can.' Christie said softly in her low voice, not trying to hide her triumph. Without waiting for Ayane to continue, she did an easy over-hand serve. Ayane passed the ball to Kasumi. In normal circumstances Kasumi should pass it back to Ayane to let her spike. But Kasumi didn't. She tossed it over the net. The ball landed gently in Hitomi's hands. Time to let them see Hitomi's great strength. Hitomi passed it to Christie. Christie threw the ball towards the net. Ayane was positioned in front of the net, ready to block Hitomi's spike. Hitomi spiked real hard and the ball smacked into Ayane's face. Ayane toppled backwards. And there goes 2000 nice points into Hitomi's pocket. Kasumi looked down right scared. Ayane avoided their glances.

2-0

Time to tease.

'Ruined your little powder-caked face?' Christie muttered.

Hitomi made a powerful jump-serve. As Ayane hadn't recovered yet and Kasumi thought Ayane would get it, none of them caught the ball. In fact, it bounced off the ground with force it hit Kasumi in the stomach. She let out a soft yelp. Ayane's eyes scolded her. Ha!

3-0

Hitomi did an over hand serve to make things fair. An over hand serve doesn't carry much force. Ayane passed it forcefully to Kasumi (she felt like smashing her with the ball). Kasumi obediently tossed it toward the net. Ayane spiked – unfortunately Hitomi was trying to block her – but feinted it. It landed behind Hitomi. Practically the worst nightmare of a blocker's.

3-1

Now they've got to win! Hand me over those points, Ayane!

The game went on until it was 6-2. Match point time...la la la! Christie's heart was dancing...one more point and they would beat them...and be history!

She told Hitomi to do a simple under hand serve. Over hands and jump serves have too much risk. Hitomi obeyed. She, too, realized how important this game was to Christie. Ayane handed the ball over to Kasumi, and Kasumi Ayane. Ayane tried her very very best to spike harder, but Christie had already sensed it. She passed the ball safely to Hitomi. Then Hitomi to Christie. Christie looked once more at their positions. Good God, they were leaving this beautiful gap between them. She would just have to spike it there. But Ayane sensed Christie's motive too. She hurried closer to Kasumi. HAHA! A bit tooo close, huh? Christie changed her mind. She spiked it to where Ayane was standing before! YES!!!!!!!

And they won!!!

Hitomi slapped Christie a high five. Ayane and Kasumi left the place without a word. When they thought Christie was out of earshot, Ayane started shouting at Kasumi loudly. Christie heard them and felt relieved. Finally they can split up!

Christie couldn't stop smiling.

She heard clapping hands. She turned. Lisa and Lei Fang were clapping, heading towards them. They were wearing big smiles – and beautiful swimsuits too. She nodded to Lisa. Hitomi did the same to Lei Fang.

'That was real super, Chris!' Lisa said, patting her on the back. What was she doing and where was Tina? Christie nodded, without saying a word.

'Well, I guess we can be team mates again, huh?' Lisa said. WHAT?! So she split up with me because I looked like a fool in the article and she thought I was no use at all? Christie stared at her.

'I think I'm happy with Hitomi here, thank you.' Christie burned Lisa's eyes with hers. She hated these kinds of people. Betraying. Judging people from the outside. Lisa looked as if Christie was meant to be with her all along. Lisa lowered her voice.

'You can make up a story for Hitomi. She can pair up with Lei Fang. Tina would understand.' The rage in Christie's eyes grew harder. She knew words were no use already. She high kicked into Lisa's face.

'Did you like that? Would you like it if I throw you away after using you?' Christie said softly into Lisa's ears, holding her head in her hands. Hitomi and Lisa looked surprised, but not scared. Things like this were common in the tournament. Lisa's shimmering lips trembled. Good Vibes from Benefit with Spice lip liner from MAC and horrible GLITTER. Doesn't she know that there's shimmering lipstick on sale nowadays? She didn't cry. Christie wanted to squeeze her head...squeeze her until the tears came out. She wanted to rip off that beautiful black swimsuit – Leto – Lisa was wearing and tear it to pieces. There were many things she wanted to do, but instead she held her by the neck and threw her as far as she could. Lisa fell in the shallow water, the waves gently lapping at her face. Nobody came to her rescue. So everybody knew that she was bad after all. If Christie remembered clearly, Lisa did not try to revive her the day before yesterday.

Smiling, she accompanied Hitomi and Lei Fang to lunch.

She was starving to death already. Lunch was brilliant – bowls of 'egg' noodles, udon noodles, sushi, sashimi, green tea ice-cream, tea, tempura, the sort. Christie felt anything was appetising so she got some of everything. She got back to her seat with Lei Fang and Hitomi. Lei Fang was eating a bowl of noodles. Hitomi was stuffing her face with sushi and dipping huge amounts of tempura into the sauce. They both smiled at Christie. Lei Fang was wearing Peacock – an adorable blue checked thong bikini with white frills on the side. Hitomi was wearing Orion – a one-piece with black, and brown cutting into the black like grass in the middle. Christie herself was still wearing Lapis Lazuli, but with a towel around her neck.

'How are you doing, Christie?' Lei Fang asked. Lei Fang had beat her in the tournament and she was really surprised. Lei Fang was 5 years younger than her. She was cute with a sense of humour. They haven't seen each other since...Christie forgot. They were quite good friends actually, despite the two different personalities.

'Fine. You?'

'Wonderful.'

'How's it doing with Lee?' Lee is Jann Lee, Lei Fang's rumoured crush.

Lei Fang blushed in her Peacock suit.

'What do you mean by that?'

'Nothing.'

Hitomi looked quizzically from Christie to Lei Fang. Apparently she didn't understand. She wasn't there in the second tournament.

'Huh?' She said quietly. Christie liked the atmosphere. She nodded to Lei Fang.

'You explain. I don't want to mess things up.'

Lei Fang faked fury.

'There's nothing going on between us!'

Christie smirked.

'Aha. You confessed yourself. I never said there was anything going between you two.'

Lei Fang blushed harder.

'Well, we went out once or twice...we sat down and talked.......'

Christie looked at Lei Fang drowsily with her head in her hand. 'Is that it?'

'Um...'

'Ah!! I remember now. Jann Lee is the guy in the tournament! The one bouncing around and making those bird-shriek noises!' Hitomi exclaimed suddenly. Christie rolled her eyes. What a bad memory.

'He was practising Jeet Kun Do, and the bird noises are the main point!' Lei Fang said, as if explaining something simple to a two-year old.

'Funny, eh?' Christie wondered out loud. 'Jann Lee makes bird noises and Fang's swimsuits have birds' names.'

'Well, Zack's somehow a matchmaker then.' Hitomi said. Lei Fang's Violet Ice lips pursed.

After lunch they went to the Sports Shop for some new swimsuits.

Lei Fang was running her hands through the rack when Hitomi yelped out.

'Oh that's so cute!!' She pointed at Heron. It had a pale blue top like underwear and a panda on the backside.

Christie cringed at the sight of it. EW.

'Look, I don't want to upset you, but...that's disgusting!'

'Really?' Hitomi's eyes grew wide and asked worriedly.

'Well, I think it's okay.' Lei Fang said. 'But the price is so not worth it. 170,000 Zack bucks! Holy guacamole.'

'Now, this one's more like it.' Christie said, taking out Amber. It was a shiny orange one-piece thong with a layer of transparent black see-through from the neck down to the lower abdomen.

'It's so revealing! I mean, it's totally see-through!' Hitomi said, examining the see-through part.

'Well...what colour do you like?' Christie asked Hitomi and Lei Fang. Hitomi said sky blue, Lei Fang lemon yellow.

'I don't think there are any blue suits here, but yellow......' Christie went through the rack and pulled out Citrine. It was a two-piece underwear-like thingy, and it was yellow. Lei Fang didn't know what to say.

'You like it?'

'Ya! It's time I have some thing other than cute swimsuits.' Christie knew Lei Fang wasn't hinting. But she was feeling pretty generous today.

Hitomi was looking at her swimsuit rack now. She picked out Hydra, a black, grey and white camouflage bikini. Christie fell in love with it instantly but didn't say anything.

'Have you seen Blue Lagoon? It's Helena's.' Hitomi said dreamily, still searching for a suitable swimsuit. They both shook their heads. 'It's really, really beautiful, you know!! It's one-piece tied by string around the neck and those blue patterns...it fits the name totally! Sometimes I just wish I am Helena. Her swimsuits are sooo beautiful.' Christie decided not to say anything. Helena's swimsuits were surely attractive. Maybe because she was rich. Her swimsuit names had names of cocktails.

It turned out that Christie bought Alexandrite, a black marble-like one-piece thong. Hitomi finally bought Dolphin, a pale blue bikini with tiny white spots after a good bit of hestitating. Me? Kiwi, a lime green bikini top with green, yellow spotted hot pants.

Christie wore Alexandrite for the rest of the day, winning a match against me and Helena. In the evening, Christie, Hitomi and me- Lei Fang, held a pyjama party and invited all the girls except Tina, Lisa and Ayane. The other girls all agreed to come. Kasumi needed a little pushing, as she feared Ayane would be angry for her being with the 'enemies'. But Christie convinced her that Ayane doesn't need to butt in. We all believe that Ayane has split up with Kasumi anyway.

We all gathered at the Private Beach at seven, because Christie said her room was boring and Hitomi's was way too small. How does Zack divide the rooms anyway? We've thought of staying at the poolside because it was really romantic, but we needed a campfire.

We all skipped dinner as Zack of all Trades opened a day earlier. We purchased some cheap food: tomato juice, a tomato, French bread, British bread, doughnuts, strawberry millefuelle, sachetorte, Chinese dessert (super yum), a meat bun, blancmange, mineral water, strawberry juice, milk, salad and strawberries. Fortunately, like I said, Zack of all Trades opened a day earlier, so there was lots of food to buy. But we only bought the ones that we liked.

I led Christie and Hitomi to the Private Beach. They were so tired and zombie-like that they were totally useless. Once we got there, we laid on the sand and gazed at the stars. Reminder: Hitomi's swimsuits are the names of constellations and things of the universe: Andromeda, Little Bear, Galaxy, and a weird one called Giraffe.

Christie closed her eyes as Hitomi built a campfire with some of the wood that fell from the palm trees. She specialised at these things...I saw her built a campfire all by her self once, here, and started dancing the hula. And that was what she's doing now. A large shadow loomed over. I saw that it was Kasumi and Helena, but Hitomi didn't see. She stepped on Christie's outstretched hand in shock. Christie moaned in agony and dipped her hand into the water as she accepted Hitomi's nervous apology.

'Hi,' Kasumi mumbled in her soft, breathy voice.

'Bonsoir,' Helena said. Does she always has to use French? Is 'hi' or 'hello' that hard to say?

We sat in a circle around the 'campfire', using the Chinese fans that I bought to fan the fire. It sometimes takes hours to make it like a real campfire, Hitomi says.

'SO. What shall we do?' I asked first.

'What? I thought you planned it all.' Helena looked surprised. Oh, and that was a polite 'what'.

Hitomi piped up like a little kiddo wanting her bottle of milk. 'Truth or dare! Truth or dare!' She started chanting.

My large eyes flashed through the group. Nobody seemed to object......

a/n: HA...I entertained myself with these sentences I used before, but changed:

It had a pale blue top like underwear and a panda on the bum. A panda on the ass. A panda on the rear-end. A panda in the back. HA.

I promise there'll be a very, very detailed chapter about the Truth or Dare thing they'll be doing. Bye and please review!


	5. Secrets, Anyone?

Christie's Life on Zack Island

Chapter Five

Secrets, anyone?

Thanks Anonymous for your reviews!!!!

a/n: ah...just hope that this would go well......I'm planning on writing more this time, but I don't know if I can do it...let's see...............!

Christie tried to look normal, to hide the excitement she was holding. But she could see that everybody was excited as hell so what the heck. Lei Fang, however, looked a shade too nervous.

'I really don't like the idea of this game......' She mumbled, head low, playing with her lemon yellow nails.

'Aw come on! It'll be great fun! Imagine how many secrets would be revealed!' Hitomi whined. Lei Fang actually looked even more nervous. She was losing her usual rosy complexion and turning into a pale green.

'You look horrible in green. I don't want to look anymore. Let's play.' Christie said, probing Lei Fang. Lei Fang still looked nervous and shook her head lightly. As she looked on the verge of leaving, Hitomi piped up a suggestion.

'Look, we can do it real fair. It'll be based on luck –only.' Lei Fang raised her eyebrow at Hitomi, as if asking, 'If it's based on luck then would it be fair?'. Hitomi continued. She saw that the situation getting worse.

'You bought all those food, right? Let's pour everyone some strawberry juice –' Kasumi fidgeted. '- and use the bottle. We'll put it like playing 'spin the bottle'. We'll start clockwise, starting from me. I spin the bottle, and whoever it lands on, I'll have to truth or dare her. Then _she_ spins the bottle, and so on. Sounds fair?' Everyone else nodded, including Lei Fang.

'Everyone ready?' Hitomi asked. So we're going to start......

Hitomi spun the strawberry juice bottle. It became a pink-red blur as they all watched tensely.

It pointed at Kasumi.

Kasumi, who was shyly sipping her paper cup of strawberry juice, gasped quietly.

'Truth or dare, Kasumi?' Hitomi smiles and gulps down her strawberry juice.

Kasumi put her hand on her mouth, as if forbidding it to say anything.

'Um...' The decision was hard. If truth, she would surely have to reveal her runaway shinobi life. If dare, worse even. How could she pretend to be a gorilla? 'Truth.' She said definitely._ So what if I tell them my secrets? No harm done. _Hitomi smiled slyly. _Oh no, _Kasumi thought.

'Tell us about your first crush.' Hitomi said. _As if that's something horrible enough_! Kasumi almost laughed out loud. She was so sure Hitomi would ask her about Ayane or Hayate or worse, her shinobi life. Well, turns out Hitomi isn't smart enough to pick the right questions.

Kasumi blushed. She certainly looked better in this shade of pink.

'Um...I didn't have one.'

'Hey, you can't just stay away from anything! C'mon, tell us!'

'Erm..do friends count?'

'Nope! Friends are friends, lovers are lovers. Quick! Is it Hayate?'

'No!!!!!' Kasumi yelped. 'Hayate's my brother!!!'

'Oh, sorry, I mixed him up with the throw-you-up-in-the-air-and-rocket-you-down guy. So, is it him?'

Kasumi looked a little angry of Hitomi mixing up the two and humiliating Hayabusa's famous move. –Izuna Otoshi.

'Then who is it?!' Hitomi prodded on, frustrated.

'Ah...' Kasumi moaned.

'Quick quick!!! ' Hitomi chanted. 'Oooh...' Hitomi paused and made a dramatic look on her face. 'Don't tell me you're a lesbian?'

Kasumi's face turned bright red and she buried her face in her hands. Just as Helena was about to say this was enough, Kasumi yelped out.

'It's Ryu!! It's Ryu!!!!!' The pressure had triggered her senses.

'There, there, Kasumi. Now tell us who this Ryu is and how was he in bed.' Hitomi said soothingly.

Kasumi looked as if she wanted to kill herself – and maybe Hitomi, for that fact.

'RYU HAYABUSA!!! YOU BEAT HIM IN THE TOURNAMENT!!!! AND HIS SKILLS IN BED --' Kasumi shouted, and her voice fell. Ooops, slip of tongue.

Everyone looked astonished. Helen'a eyes widened. Christie had her mouth slightly open. Lei Fang was staring hardly at the flames. Even Hitomi looked a bit shocked.

' – is none of your business.' Kasumi added , flinging her hand on the bottle. They still didn't look convinced. To make sure that they all heard her, Kasumi said again, 'NONE-OF-YOUR-BUSINESS!!' Everybody continued their shocked reactions: widened eyes, opened mouths. The bottle spun fiercely and pointed at Hitomi. Hitomi, who was cheerfully stuffing her mouth with sache torte, stopped chewing and widened her eyes. She wasn't prepared for this. Kasumi's eyes told her 'you thought you could get away with this'.

'But..but...it's pointing between me and Helena!' Hitomi said through a big mouthful of chocolate cake. Kasumi looked disgusted at the sight of chocolate cake in her mouth.

'How could you?' Helena gasped.

'Well, if you think it's fair, okay then. Who thinks it's pointing at Helena?' Kasumi asked. _Revenge._ Nobody raised their hand.

Hitomi whined again. 'All right! Dare! I have no inner secrets!'

Kasumi smiled.

'Kiss Zack.'

Everybody screamed and whooped. Hitomi literally fell dead on the spot, her chocolate cake still in her wide-open mouth.

'Or do you mean 'piss' Zack?' Lei Fang joked. ' 'cause that's real easy. Right, everybody?'

'Yeah!' They chanted. Kasumi, however was fair on both sides.

'It's true, he lied to us about the tournament, but if he didn't, we wouldn't be here. We'd be staying at home practising our fighting skills, preparing for the next tournament.'

'As if, ' Lei Fang muttered. 'I for one would be holding a party back home, instead of playing this horrid game.' Drifts of memories floated around her head. _That night, _she thought.

'I agree, Kausmi.' Helena said, breaking the boundaries of her politeness. 'We wouldn't have known so much about each other without Zack.' Of course, 'known so much about each other' referred to Kasumi's revealed secret. Kasumi nodded silently and continued. She didn't need any more of that crap.

'So, Hitomi. Are you going to do it?' Hitomi sat up, dazed. Christie could tolerate no more. All this waiting and prodding had driven her mad. She walked up to Hitomi and shook her by the shoulders.

Finally, Hitomi jerked awake. 'But how?'

Kasumi didn't even have to pause to think. She had it all planned. She pulled out a pink cell phone from a hidden pocket in her tube top. To everyone's amazement, she dialed a few numbers and spoke into the phone.

'Hi, Zack, it's me, Kasumi.' She faked out a soft and sweet voice, melting Zack's heart in the process. Pause. Pause. Pause. Pause. Pause. Kasumi cut him down. 'Wouldn't you come down here? We're in the Private Beach right now. Care to come? We have a lot of-' Kasumi paused and glanced around the group. '-_stuff_ awaiting you-' Pause. Kasumi clicked off her phone.

'That's it!' She sat back down cross-legged. 'Now all we have to do its to wait for him to come.'

This was so unlike Kasumi that they were all speechless for 5 minutes. Then they heard wheels. It was Zack in his pearly white limo driving to them. Kasumi stood up and signalled Zack to stop. She ran over to him in her most sexiest way (waggling her hips and flinging her hands back and forth) and seemed to be talking to him. Christie tried to lip-read her words. She moved her lips so little that it was amazingly difficult.

'don't drive...walk...me...campfire...waiting' Zack then put his arm around Kasumi and headed toward them. He was wearing his usual white suit (a new one, because the first one's sleeves got burnt) and had combed his white hair with unimaginably huge amounts of gel. He was all ready to see the girls, all right. He also brought along _three_ bottles of red wine and glasses.

'Hi babes.' He said, smoothing his hand over his hair. 'Want me to join your little party?' Kasumi nodded, her face filled with anticipation. She glared at the others, ordering them to obey. Christie uncorked a bottle of wine and poured it into a glass, handing it to Zack. She wanted him to get drunk so that he won't remember anything. He accepted the glass gratefully. They must've looked weird staring at Zack drinking his wine doing nothing, because Zack started pouring them each glasses of wine.

'One for you, sweetheart.' He poured one for Kasumi. She stared at the glass, her expression hard to read.

'And one for you, teddy.' He poured one for Hitomi. She was so scared and humiliated she almost punched him in the face. But she decided not to make her hands dirty.

'Some for you, birdie.' He poured one for Lei Fang. She wriggled her nose in disgust.

'A good n' strong one for you, hon'.' He poured one for Christie. Her eyes raged with fury. The nickname was poisonous to her.

'And finally, one for my little princess.' He poured one for Helena and poured the last of it for himself.

'Cheers to all of you and this island!!!!' He raised his glass. The others did so reluctantly. He drank his in a full gulp but none of them touched their glass. Zack looked at them, puzzled. Just as he was about to coo them, Christie held her glass to Zack and said, 'Cheers to the wonderful man and great boxer, ZACK!' Everybody, realizing the situation, raised their glasses in unison. Zack seemed so happy he turned his head to Kasumi and _kissed her._ Kasumi almost backed away, but her eyes were the size of eggs. Christie felt sympathy for her.

'Thanks to you, babe, for this super thank-you party for me.' Zack said dreamily. All was explained. Christie hated him so much her hand flew out to throw her glass at him, but Helena's hand flew out to stop hers. Christie immediately felt gratitude for Helena because at that instant, Zack turned to face Christie.

'You know, babe, you're the coolest gal I ever knew of.' He said, closing to Christie. Hitomi flung her fist with the wine glass onto Zack's back. Red juice poured all over his expensive white suit.

'OW!!!!! Who did that?' He swung around. Hitomi had got another glass in that split second and pretended to cry.

'Oh, baby, what's the matter?' Zack cooed.

'She...she......' Hitomi pointed at Kasumi. 'She hit me!'

Kasumi didn't react. Zack was shocked.

'Really? Are you sure it wasn't an accident?' He asked.

Hitomi sniffed loudly and wept. 'No.'

'I'll do anything to help you, baby. Just tell me.'

Hitomi's eye's brightened.

'There's this one thing. Hire us a stripper!' Hitomi's request wasn't difficult. It was just one phone call away. But Zack didn't believe his ears. The girls choked on their food and had no idea what was going on. Is Hitomi making a diversion to make Zack go away so she wouldn't have to kiss him?

'Hire...hire a...a stripper?' Zack stuttered. Hitomi nodded, making her little-girl-wants-lolly face again.

'It'll be super fun!'

'Oh...oh well, as you wish, baby.' He flipped out his platinum cell phone and dialed.

'Er..hello? Yeah, it's Zack. Listen I need the best stripper you can find –' The person on the other line cut him down. '-no, not a chick.' Pause. Pause. 'No, no, I don't mean that!' Pause. 'Oh, er yes. ' Pause. 'What for? It's none of your business.' Pause. 'Qualities? Do we really need to talk about that? Oh, all right then!' He walked to the sea, making it unable for the girls to eavesdrop. It was this time that they all blurted out different questions.

'What the heavens are you doing, Hitomi?'

'What's going on?'

'Why did you accuse me?'

'I really don't understand!!!'

Hitomi giggled. 'I'm making Zack get entertainment for us, that's what I'm doing! And the accusing hadn't any meaning. It was to make an excuse for me to cry and plead Zack!' Christie still didn't understand. Why go through so many obstacles to get some entertainment?

Zack looked at the girls, still talking on the phone. Christie took this chance to lip-read his words. It was fairly easy. He totally exaggerated the movement of his lips.

'You don't? What d'you mean you don't? Okay, five thousand dollars. It's not the money? What the f are you playing at? Oh, great, there's one available. Problem? What problem? I don't see no problem! Okay, bye.' He frowned as he turned off his phone and walked back to the girls.

' 'bit pesky little researcher. Kept saying there's no one available. But no worry, there's one on his way here.'

Hitomi clapped her hands. 'Yay!'

'So what are we gonna do while we wait?' Zack asked.

'We don't need to wait.' Christie muttered. 'He's already here.' A tall and handsome figure was walking towards them. It was wearing a beautiful white suit just like Zack's, but on his body it looked a million dollars, while Zack looked nothing more than crap. As he moved closer in his graceful way of walking, Helena thought there was an air of specialty about him. That he had a connection with one of them...she glanced at Lei Fang. What she saw was overwhelming. Lei Fang had her hands to her chest, her face red as a robin's chest (thanks to her bird-name swimsuits), her mouth open. Helena knew this guy was gorgeous, but he isn't _that_ gorgeous, isn't he? She looked at the others. They were all politely amazed. Christie, in fact, showed no sign of amazement. It was as if she saw guys like him everyday. Zack was pouring himself some wine, still unaware of the stripper moving closer. Helena looked at Lei Fang again. _She wants to leave, but doesn't want to attract attention to herself._ _Poor Lei Fang._

'Hi!' The stripper said to them. Zack stopped drinking his wine and shook hands with him.

'Finally you've come! Now, I want you to do your best...' He turned his back to the girls and counted a wad of cash for the stripper. The stripper sat down between Hitomi and Kasumi and started chatting with all of them.

'I'm Kenneth.' He said. 'And would you all please introduce yourselves?'

'I'm Helena. Nice to meet you.' This man is really polite.

'...Christie.' Since when did strippers order their clients to do things?

'Hitomi here!' Oh my god he's gorgeous!

'Kasumi......' I love him...

Kenneth turned to Lei Fang, expecting her to introduce herself. She back-faced him and stood up.

'Can I be excused for a while? I need to go to the loo.' Her voice was somewhat different. She walked out of the beach and went back to her dorm. Helena sensed that she should divert Kenneth's attention from Lei Fang. She poured a glass of wine for Kenneth. He accepted it and drank like he never drank before. Kenneth turned on his CD player and played the Solid Gold Disco CD. The first song was good ol' 'Hands Up'. He danced around with a stupid smile on his face(in Christie's opinion) and threw his expensive jacket into the sea. He must've had powerful muscles because once he threw it, it disappeared completely. Then, always keeping his hands 'up', he did the lamest thing Christie could ever imagine. He_ blew kisses to them._ Like a toddler. Like a jerk. Then he quickly removed all his clothes and then he was stark naked. He had a good body, but not as good as Christie imagined. Zack was dancing along too, and doing what seemed to be tearing off his clothes too. Kenneth noticed. He danced wilder, flexing his muscles in the process. Hitomi screamed. It was too much for her young and purified soul. Lei Fang hadn't come back yet. In the distance Christie thought she saw a cowering shadowy figure around the road. She looked closer and almost thought it was Lei Fang. But with all the fun they're having here, she'd want to come, right?

Kenneth's body and dance moves were nothing to Christie. Beside her she saw a blurred Helena moving to and fro in slow motion, clapping her hands and enjoying her time like an old lady. The music changed to the mind-twisting 'YMCA'. Why...Em See Ei.....Why em see ei...boring....boring...

They chatted all except Christie. What's he doing here anyway? She sipped her tomato juice, bored as hell. She did wish she could go to hell sooner, because maybe hell was more interesting. At least you have something to care about. Pain. Nothing to care about is something to care about for Christie. She lied down on the soft sand gazing at the moon, finding unknown constellations, her tomato juice bottle in her hand. When were they going to continue playing? Why is Kasumi acting like this? The questions disturbed her. Skeptic as an assassin should be, she had many suspicions. Why did Hitomi hire the stripper? Did she simply wanted to escape the dare Kasumi set her? As the others seduced Kenneth, she closed her eyes, drowning in the chatter of her friends.....

'Wake up, Chris! We're playing the game again!' Somebody with a sweet voice and strong hands shook her awake.

They were sitting in the campfire circle just like before, Zack and the stripper no where to be seen. Christie groggily come back to her senses.

'Where are they? How long have I slept?'

'You slept for half an hour. And Zack, well...it's hard to explain. We drunked him and told the entertainer to send him back to his house. It took a bit more than ten glasses to drunk him, you know! We had a really bad time drunking him and pretending to be drunk ourselves, and to make the Kenneth go away. He still wanted his money, see.'

'...I'm sorry I wasn't there to help.' Christie said truthfully.

'Nay, you're lucky not to be there anyway. It was a real mess.' Hitomi paused. 'So, shall we continue our game?'

Christie wanted greatly to ask her if she really had gave Zack a smooch, but decided that it might not be safe......

Hitomi spun the now-sand filled bottle. It pointed at Helena.

'SOOOOOooo........HeeeeeLLLEEEEEENNNAAAA!!! Straight TRUTH or scaredy DaRe????' Hitomi asked, now chomping on a meat bun. Lei Fang had gave it to her because she wasn't in the mood to eat.

'Truth.' Helena said. After the dreadful dare Kasumi set for Hitomi, everyone was keen on truth instead of dare.

'Let's see......hmm............' Hitomi said, munching on her meat bun.

'AHA! I've got the question of the universe! If you answer this I'm sure we'll all be surprised!' Helena tilted her head. What question was that important?

Hitomi lowered her voice to a dramatic level. '_How old are you?'_

'What?' Helena gasped. 'Did I hear you wrong?'

Hitomi laughed out loud, thankfully she had swallowed her meat bun already. 'I was kidding! _Kidding_, Helena!'

Helena clenched her fists. 'That was not funny.'

Even Lei Fang wanted to laugh.

'Okay, here's the real question.' Hitomi paused to let the atmosphere grow tense. 'Are you a virgin?'

_Haha, that's a nice question. I wonder what she'll say_, thought Christie playfully.

Helena closed her eyes for a bit.

'To be truthful I don't know.'

'Huh? So you mean you don't have to be one?'

'No, but...'

'But you think you'll miss all the fun?' Lei Fang suggested. Judging by her silence all night, a suggestion from her is already a big improvement.

'Maybe so.' Helena said.

'SO DOES THAT MEAN YOU AREN'T ONE?' Hitomi asked, getting bored and sleepy.

'Y...y......no.'

'IS THAT NO FOR NEGATIVE OR NO YOU AREN'T ONE?'

'No for negative!' Helena spun the damn bottle before Hitomi can talk. It pointed at Lei Fang. _Oh...there are many things I'd like to ask you,_ Helena thought. _Unless you choose dare._

'Truth or dare, Fang?'

'Dare! Gimme a nice dare to spice up the atmosphere!!!' Lei Fang cried. Christie thought she was a bit drunk. But she wasn't red in the face.

'Okay...' Helena racked her brains for the worst dare she could imagine. This would make Lei Fang want to choose truth instead. Then Helena could squeeze the truth out of her. Not that she was nosy, but she was very, very curious about Lei Fang and the entertainer.

'Ah...' She decided. She picked out a log with flames from the campfire. 'Swallow this.'

'But that's murder!' Lei Fang cried. 'That's no dare!'

'Oh yes it is one. It's possible. It only depends on your bravery.'

'Even if I had all the guts I need to murder myself I can't do it. Just swallowing a log whole is crazy.'

'Well then you can choose truth.'

'Is that a threat?'

'No. I have no desire to know your secrets.' Helena lied. _I'm just curious._

Lei Fang hesitated. Then she held up the log to her mouth. The flames almost burnt her. _She's going too far_, Helena realised. Luckily Lei Fang gave up in the last second.

'No, this is mad!! I can't do this!!!!!!' She shouted. Helena felt proud of her little tactic.

'Truth?' Lei Fang nodded her head and cooled her lips with a bottle of cold water.

'May I ask you a few more questions as you didn't complete the dare?' Lei Fang nodded. 'Whatever!'. Helena rubbed her hands excitedly at this great chance.

'How are you feeling today?' Helena asked. Lei Fang looked cautious. Such an easy question...there might be traps.

'I'm okay, fine. Why ask?'

'Because you chose truth.' Helena continued quickly. 'What did you think of the entertainer just now?'

Lei Fang looked taken back and fumbled with her fingers. 'What makes you ask that?'

'You didn't swallow the log.'

'I think he was cool and everything, thank you. Are you doing some kind of survey? 'Cause this kind of question isn't that private!'

'I shall ask what I wish to. I saw you were nervous when he came. Why?'

'He's handsome, that's why! Honestly, is that to important to you?'

'It is. Maybe it isn't. Thank you for you answers, Fang.'

'What? That's it? So you don't want to probe into me?'

Helena smiled softly. 'No. I have no desire for your personal life.'

Lei Fang shrugged. She wasn't too keen on letting her secrets out, especially on her life before the tournaments. But Helena was different. She wasn't the kind that was too nosy. Lei Fang spun the bottle and it pointed at Christie.

'Finally you get to play the game, Chris.' Lei Fang gave a wide smile to her friend. 'Truth, I can give you some privacy. Dare, I guarantee there'll be a lot of fun.'

'...dare. I have no interest in the degree of your mercy in truth.'

'I did wish you'd pick truth,' Lei Fang smiled sinisterly. 'This ain't gonna be easy......'

'How about I dare you to answer my question?.' She asked Christie.

'Fine. I don't care if you dare me anything. As long as it's reasonable.'

'Great!! Now here comes the question: Have you ever picked your nose before?' _Uh-oh_, thought Christie. They all giggled at the question. If she says yes, then it would be quite embarrassing, but if she said no, it would be impossible. Her nose would be stuffed with bogies of 24 years if she denied it. Everyone has done it before, but you can't really say you've done it, right?

'Hem...' Christie cleared her throat. 'What kind of question is that?'

Lei Fang giggled again and played with the sparks of the campfire. 'It's a question! A question's a question, it's that simple.' She had all the cunningness a Hong Konger would have.

'What if I say no?'

'That's impossible!' Lei Fang looked up Christie's nose. 'You're quite clean, believe me.'

Christie jerked away in disgust.

'If it's not no, then we all know the answer.'

'You have to say it yourself.'

'Okay then. YES.'

The girls all had a fit and slapped their thighs. _How childish._ Christie thought again.

'Is it over?' She asked, losing patience.

'Yes, yes. I'm overly satisfied.' Lei Fang laughed, doubling up.

Christie cast a cursing glance at Lei Fang, and spun the freakin' bottle. It took a full ten seconds to choose the doomed one. Which was Kasumi.

Christie glared at her. She didn't take notice as she was cutting off an edge of her strawberry millefiulle, sending it straight to her mouth.

'Dreaded questions or embarrassing moments?' Christie asked.

'Hmmph?' Kasumi looked up with cake in her mouth.

'So you want both?' Christie said matter-of-factly.

'Mmmphtrmmpp!' Kasumi said, frantically shaking her orange head. 'Phare!'

'Yes, this _is _fair, Kasumi. Go on and choose. I'm losing patience.'

'Phare!'

'I told you, this _is_ fair!' Christie played on. It was fun to see her struggle like that. Finally, Kasumi swallowed her damned cake and said slowly and loudly, '_Dare._'

'Get us a coconut and run across the beach like a crab and sing 'Under the Sea'.'

'What?'

'Just do it.' Christie said, peeking at her black leather-strap watch. She had it for years and it was quite worn out now. Three in the morning. Gosh.

'But Zack of All Trades is closed by now!'

'What's that I see up there?' Christie pointed up a palm tree nearby, filled with coconuts the size of footballs.

'Oh no.' Kasumi moaned. She walked back a few metres and accelerated. She jumped – almost smacking into the tree – hugged the bark – and fortunately caught a branch. Swinging around, she panted, 'And what now?'

Christie lay back and looked at her, high above. What a powerful jump. It was at least three metres off the ground. She had to impress them before she embarrasses herself during the crab thing later, Christie realised. 'Climb up to the top!'

Kasumi groaned and put a leg up ontop of the tree and pushed herself onto it. There she lay drenched with sweat, but not too tired.

'Okay. Now get us a coconut!' Christie yelled.

Kasumi climbed over to the side of the leaves and fetched the brown furry fruit. She dropped it to the ground.

'Get us a bigger one!' Christie cried again. Kasumi, tired of the orders, found the biggest one and tried to pull it off the tree. No such luck. The force of it made her fall off the tree, giant coconut in hand. She landed with a soft _thump_. Luckily she was fine as anything.

Christie approached her, getting the coconut.

'Thanks a lot, ' She said, examining it. 'You okay? Wow, this one's big.'

Kasumi stood up and brushed sand off her swimsuit. There was no reason for that action. It's a _beach_, for Christ's sake!

Christie threw the coconut to the group casually and Helena caught it.

'Now for your crab scene.' Kasumi almost fainted. She gingerly made out the crab pose.

'Stay on your toes and stretch out your arms like a _real _crab.' Christie ordered. Kasumi followed. As her face was red, she very well looked like a crab already. 'Do you know how to sing 'Under the Sea'? The Little Mermaid song?'

'No, sorry, I don't watch the Disney films.'

'Too bad. _Fortunately_, I've got the CD and a CD player. ' Christie got them out from her bag and played the CD. Funny 'sea' sounds started.

_The seaweed is always greener  
In somebody else's lake  
You dream about going up there  
But that is a big mistake  
Just look at the world around you  
Right here on the ocean floor  
Such wonderful things surround you  
What more is you lookin' for?_

Then came the funky voice. 'This part is easy.' Christie said, as the singer proceeded to the famous theme.

_Under the sea, under the sea  
Darling it's better down where it's wetter  
Take it from me_

'Go on!' Christie said to Kasumi. The other girls were waving left and right and clapping hands. Kasumi made her crab pose again and mumbled, 'under..under the sea......'

'Louder!' Christie encouraged her. 'LOUDER!!!!' Kasumi cast her a furious glance and obeyed. She yelled out with all her might:

_Down here all the fish is happy  
As after the waves they roll  
The fish on the land ain't happy  
They sad 'cause they in the bowl! _(Kasumi scattered around tip-toed and all crabby)_  
But fish in the bowl is lucky  
They in for a worser fate  
One day when the boss get hungry _(She rubbed her stomach)_  
Guess who goin' be on the plate?  
  
Wo-no, under the sea  
Under the sea  
Nobody beat us, fry us and eat us _(She clamped her 'claws' and knashed her teeth')_  
In frickazee_

It was so funny nobody could bear it. When the song was over they were all laughing their guts out until they were aching all over. Kasumi joined in the laughing as well.

'You're a true actor, Kasumi!' Hitomi said as she wiped her tears.

'Yes, it was all superb!' Helena said, applauding. She caught sight of Christie's watch. It was almost sunrise.

'Oh, no. If I don't go to sleep now I couldn't wake up early tomorrow morning!'

'Yeah, we had all the fun we need. Time to snuggle up in that cozy bed!' Lei Fang said, rubbing her arms. It was getting cooler and the wind blew like it was autumn.

'I hadn't had so much fun in years.' Christie sighed. They threw away empty bottles and put the excess food into their bags. The campfire was almost finished but Christie put it out and threw the logs into the sea anyway. They didn't want anyone else finding out about their party.

'Look, what's that?' Hitomi pointed to the sky.

Kasumi gasped. 'A shooting star! Quick! Make a wish!' They gathered around and made their wishes, backpacks on their backs Christie normally wouldn't have wished with them as she thought it was unnecessary, but since everyone did so...she wished for luck anyway. Soon it was time to go.

'Bye!'

'See you tomorrow morning!'

'Night!' Hitomi walked away with Lei Fang. Helena went back to her room alone, while Kasumi said she just spotted another shooting star and wanted to stay. Christie walked back to her room, thinking of the wonderful happiness she had just now. As she walked along the carpeted corridor to her room, she heard talking. It seemed to be Lei Fang.

'What you do, I don't care. Maybe it's like that. Maybe it isn't.' Then came Helena's voice.

'But you aren't sure yet. You're jumping conclusions.'

Lei Fang sighed. 'Well, I hope it isn't then.'

'I do hope so too.'

Christie didn't have the nerve to stay there listening, so she walked quickly back to her room. Once there, she grabbed two wrapped soft packages from her wardrobe. They were presents for Hitomi and Lei Fang. She pressed a button beside the minibar. Soon enough, the doorbell rang. A bellboy appeared in the doorway.

'And what may I do for you, madam?' He asked politely. Christie gave him the two presents. 'Give these to Hitomi and Helena. And cut the 'madam'.'

'Yes, I certainly will. And there's a package for you, um, miss.' He handed her a soft package wrapped in gold and tied with a blue ribbon.

'Thank you.' Christie said, and closed the door. What's this? Clothing? She sat on her bed and unwrapped the package without mercy. In the middle of bits of gold wrapping and paper, she held the soft thing in her hands. It was black with grey spots. She held it up for a closer look. _A swimsuit._ It had cute panther spots all over. It was a thong one-piece, without any straps, with slits on the side, and a _tail. _A furry black tail. Another thing that came with the package was a pair of panther ears and a note from Zack.

_Great performance on the beach today! A little gift from Zack. You'll look sexy in Panther, I'm sure._

Oh. It's from Zack. How very thoughtful of him. Christie put away the things and hung Panther prominently on the balcony door, smiling widely. She lay on her bed in bliss and fell asleep......

a/n: There It is! It was better and longer than I imagined. Hope you liked it! Anyway, say something, please!!


	6. Howling Winds and Horror

Christie's Life on Zack Island

Chapter Six

Howling Winds and Horror

a/n: Sorry for the delay!! I was reading The Lord of the Rings!!!

Christie headed down to the restaurant for breakfast with Hitomi. She had put on Panther gratefully, and wore a light amount of black make up. She didn't even think of putting on make up before because her mood was in the way. Today though, she thought as she put on the dreadful panther ears on 10 minutes ago, _I'm going to forget everything and have a nice time._

Hitomi was sitting in the heart of the place, stuffing her face with tons of orange stuff and yellow...rice? Christie sat down across her and muttered 'good morning' quite louder than usual.

''morrrnninphhgg!!!!!' cried Hitomi, ten times louder than Christie. Christie looked around the restaurant to avoid the sight of Hitomi's food in her mouth. 'Phanks for duh swimshphooot!!' At this she accidentally spit some sauce at Christie. Hitomi was wearing Heliodor, a gift from Christie last night. It was a white one piece thong without straps and with bands on the side, and it was covered with orange hibiscuses.

'So, er...what's that you're eating?' Christie asked, amazed that even Helena, who sat by herself in a corner, was piling orange stuff into pancakes, and actually enjoying it.

'Curry! Gosh, Christie. You haven't heard of curry before?' Hitomi stared at her with her eyes the size of pennies.

Christie shook the comment off and continued to stare at Helena.

'Oh. That's Indian Bread. Anyway, loads of people haven't tried it before.' Hitomi said, seeing the direction of Christie's watch.

'Oh...' Christie filled her plate with mounts of curry(as it turned out to be yellow, not orange), rice, and Indian Bread. Being an assassin – a wealthy assassin – she seldom tried out exotic food. Bread and butter were enough for her. And tons of workout.

She got back to her seat and poked the potatoes sizzling in the fragrant curry suspiciously. _Remember what you said this morning? Stop being a jerk and act normal! _

'I am _not_ a jerk!' muttered Christie under her breath.

'Huh?' Hitomi raised her eyes from her food.

'Nothing.' Christie jammed her fork into a piece of yellow potato and stuffed it into her mouth. Potato with curry...yum......she let out a sigh of bliss and ate as much as she could.

Christie worried a bit about her swimsuit. She ate so much just now her stomach was bloated, and worse, it could be seen under the swimsuit. She and Hitomi ran around the island, eagerly searching for weak opponents to beat. No such luck they had. Helena and Lei Fang were on the shore shell-hunting and weren't in the mood for playing, and Tina and Lisa were out of the question. Christie half-wished they hadn't beat Ayane and Kasumi yesterday, so that they wouldn't have broken up, and Christie and Hitomi would have at least _somebody _to play with. The day was getting cold and Christie suspected a typhoon coming soon. It was November. These disastrous tropical islands. Now they're paradise, then they're junk. Just because of a typhoon. Soon the wind started blowing quite heavily. Christie put on her jacket and Hitomi, being tough(she claimed so) changed into Bear, a furry brown suit with bear-ears, another gift from Zack. Together they stayed in Christie's room, with the heater full up, looking at the beaches down below and wondering what the others are doing.

'Nice brew, Christie.' Hitomi said as the sipped her hot cocoa. She didn't know if hot chocolate had different _brews_, but this was certainly a good one.

'Thanks,' Christie smiled lightly and drank her coffee. 'I picked it out from the mini-bar.'

Hitomi giggled. 'Sometimes you're just so funny!'

Christie gave another rare smile. She had never been called funny before. They looked out of the balcony window from the inside. The wind was getting steadily stronger. The palm trees that lined the beaches swayed to and fro, their strong barks holding up against the wind. Every now and then a branch with leaves would fall down with a 'whack!' and be blown away, making trails on the sand. They sat there for a while, enjoying the beauty of it all. Christie then turned on the TV.

'Ah..we're just in time for the news.' She said. The news reporter, with enormous pearl earrings and wavy hair, talked in her rich lipstick.

'Typhoon Zachary is heading North-East of Africa, towards the general direction of Madagascar. Wind speed is at 55 miles per hour, and the typhoon 10 signal is up. James? How is it in Madagascar?' The screen switched to a tropical island, where a man in a stupid raincoat was holding his hood against the wind. His brown hair was flying everywhere, and his glasses were so splattered with rain he looked like a nerd with thick glasses in the rain. He held the mic to his mouth. They were barely able to catch his words.

'Lisa? Wind...strong...hardly...see...trees...down!!' The camera turned to fallen trees and people running around holding banana leaves upon their heads, screaming for help. Suddenly a gigantic tidal wave came. It looked as if the cameraman meant to shoot the wave, but the wave was already covering the camera. There were two cries, one from the pathetic and useless cameraman and one from poor James. The camera switched back to Lisa's place, cozy and cool. Reporter Lisa paled as she saw James and the wave. Her lipstick cringed. She continued her reporting like a good reporter.

'Um...er...yeah, so, like Zachary would be very dangerous, and...yeah, so, don't go out and you'll be fine.' She didn't even say goodbye and the news herald played. Christie switched off the TV and changed her gaze back to the window.

'Oh my! Fifty-five miles per hour!' Hitomi cried. 'I hope the others are okay...'

'They'll be alright.' Christie assured her. 'They're tough. They've been in the tournament...' Her voice trailed off while thousands of vivid memories exploded in her mind. She amused herself as she remembered the time when she practically flattened Brad Wong. Suddenly, she saw a bending figure struggling forward in Niki Beach, then stopping abruptly, facing the sea, as if enjoying the view.

'Who's that?' cried Hitomi, trembling all over. For the figure was blurred by the rain-splattered window of the balcony and all that they could see was a blurred dot in green. Christie strode quickly to the balcony door and flung it open. Wind, leaves and sand immediately rushed in, and Hitomi had to curl up in a corner, though she was eager and afraid to see who the blurred figure was. Or...what it was. Christie held on firmly onto the balcony rail, standing against the howling wind, squinting her eyes to make out the figure. It had black hair, and the only one with black hair was...

'Lei Fang!' Christie shouted to Hitomi and slammed the balcony door shut after she went back into the room. She went over to Hitomi and shook her.

'She's all out there...alone?' Hitomi asked like a little girl scared of thunder.

'Yes! And we'd better go wake her up from whatever dream she might be having!' Christie said.

'Dream...dream?' Hitomi stuttered.

'Yeah!! She's gone mental!' Christie paused then, as the sky flashed. She thought she had imagined it, for it was so short. She took Hitomi by the arm and gave her a wind jacket. She herself put on a jacket she brought for safety causes when she still thought Zack was holding a tournament. It was a genuine Adidas, with mesh inside and a collar for turning up. It cost her quite a lot. And, of course, it was black.

Just as they were about to step out to the door, thunder roared and the room shook, as well as Hitomi, who shrieked.

'Where the hell is everybody?' Wondered Christie out loud, noticing the absence of screams of the other girls. They hurried down the stairs and passed the windswept outdoor restaurant, its deck tables and chairs all turned over. They dashed to Niki Beach(which was not easy, because the wind was blowing them sideways), a few hundred metres away. Slowly Lei Fang came to sight. She was standing bravely in Kiwi, her green swimsuit, facing the sea, and practically doing – nothing.

'Fang!!!!!!' Hitomi yelled. Lei Fang didn't seem to hear her. Hitomi yelled again, almost breaking Christie's right ear drum. The wind was howling at a horrible rate, the sky a sickly white, the sea slapping foamy waves at the shore mercilessly. The sand blew at their faces and once a giant branch came flying at them. Next time please, no flying rubbish bins, Christie thought bitterly.

'YOU COLLECTING SHELLS AT THIS WEATHER? NO SHELLS!! NO SHELLS NOW!!!! GET IT???' Christie yelled. Hitomi turned to her. 'I-DON'T-GET-IT!!' Christie shrugged.

At last they reached Lei Fang. She still did not take notice but when Christie gave her an awakening slap, she jumped a metre high and screamed when she saw them. Staggering figures they were, wind beat and squinting. But they didn't hear her scream because of the wind rushing at their ears.

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING???' Christie shouted, exaggerating the words so that Lei Fang could read her lips. Lei Fang turned away, facing once again towards the fierce sea. 'WELL WE CAN'T JUST STAY HERE!!' Lei Fang didn't budge. Sighing loudly, wishing Lei Fang could hear her sigh, Christie looked out to the sea to see if there was anything interesting that made Lei Fang risk her life out there to look at. Nope. Nothing except the flooded Bass Island, and...and......a black dot in the distance. Christie finally made out what it was.

A _ship_. No, a plane. The ones that glide on the water.

'The _s_shhip!!!' cried Hitomi. 'The shhip!! It's sinking!!'

Christie squinted hard. Oh yes, indeed it was sinking. It went down, down, down, until it completely disappeared. Turning around she saw Lei Fang crying.

'Let's go...let's go......' Lei Fang sobbed. She spoke quietly but Christie knew what she said. Heaving a sigh, she let Lei Fang have her jacket and started to walk back to the hotel with them. A clap of lightning shone in the sky for a full second. It brightened the whole place and the sky in the distance with a terrifying purple, illuminating Fang and Hitomis' faces in a ghostly way. Christie stopped in her steps. Hitomi turned to her, as if asking if she was scared or something. Silently in her head Christie began to count the seconds...one...two...the thoughts changed into a deep murmur...three...four...five...scared to death, she started to shout...six...the fear was incredible...she feared it but she wanted it the same...

'SEVENNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!' She yelled with all her might. At the exact moment, a deafening thunder erupted in their surroundings. It was so loud, there was nothing _but _the thunder. Nothing _but _the thunder. The younger girls screamed and clasped their hands over their ears, almost cracking their own skulls. Christie shouted into the sky, as if she was scolding the sky for some unreasonable purpose. Together they stopped, panting, and stood silently for a while. The wind changed its direction and was blowing at their backs, prodding them to go back. Hitomi shook herself and woke up from her stupor. Christie continued walking back to the hotel with them, as if nothing had happened. All was silent.

Christie was sitting on the chair of her black vanity desk, gazing at blank space. Hitomi was curled up in a corner in a blanket, looking around, still bot believing what just happened. Lei Fang was sitting on Christie's bed, as dreamy as she was when she was out there. After a strange ten minutes, Hitomi broke the silence in her trembling voice.

'What were you doing all on your own out there, Fang?' She spoke quietly. Lei Fang sat still, but did not ignore the disturbing question.

'I was...seeing him farewell.' She whispered to the ground.

'The ground isn't a good listener, especially for secrets.' Christie spoke aloud as she reached for a towel to dry out her hair. The towel was black. Lei Fang nodded, and turned instead to the floor-to-ceiling window. _The window isn't a very good listener too, _Christie thought miserably.

'The plane sank...with him.' Christie was about to ask who, when Hitomi, dazed at the real-life romance drama, opened her mouth and came out words of a little girl who wants to be a princess and kissed by the prince, and live happily ever after in a castle of white chocolate.

'The plane sank..with him...and your heart! Oh...' Hitomi gasped. Christie shook her head in disgust at the dramatic voice of Hitomi.

'Who do you mean?' Christie pressed on, romantic or not.

'K...ke...' Lei Fang muttered, and burst into sobs.

'There, there, Lei Fang.' Hitomi patted her back, and the action seemed all too familiar with the horrible soothing act she did during the truth or dare game yesterday.

'K...ke...Kenneth?' Christie wondered. Surprisingly, Lei Fang nodded, her eyes pouring tears all over her swimsuit.

'Oh, poor poor Lei Fang! I didn't know you had a crush on him!! But wasn't he supposed to be already left last night?' Hitomi asked in her small girlish voice. Lei Fang shook her head vigorously.

'His plane was delayed. He had to leave this morning.' Said Lei Fang, crying her heart out on Hitomi's shoulder.

'Don't worry. He'll be okay.' Chrisiie said, completely lost in the conversation. She never really understood it when other girls talked about these things. Their talk simply didn't click. Lei Fang suddenly has this crush, which is the entertainer last night, his plane was delayed, and his plane _sank_. Ah! Christie remembered something from the party last night. When Kenneth came, Lei Fang had excused herself to go to the bathroom.

'C'mon. Let's just...call help, ok? Everything would be fine.' Christie said and picked up the phone. It was dead. Hitomi and Lei Fang glared at her. 'Really! Not everyone who's plane sinks can't swim!'

'Swim back to shore?' Lei Fang said incredibly.

'At least, when the plane crashed, they were sending an SOS message, otherwise they were fools.'

'What if...what if......' Said Lei Fang, full of concern.

'Look, the storm's a bit better now, we could go out and see, and maybe rent a boat to go see if anybody's ok.' Christie said, hoping to comfort her. She didn't really think of doing it.

'Really?' Lei Fang gasped.

'Um...yeah. If you like.' Christie said.

'Great! Let's go then! There might be a lot of survivors!'

With a great pressure pressing on her, Christie led them to Niki Beach. The rain had stopped, but the sky looked as if it was threatening to rain anytime it wished to.

'No time turning back now.' Christie fumbled with the ropes of the little boat. 'Silly idea of mine. Might as well go out and have a short look and comfort them.'

Finally she loosened the boat and pushed it to sea with Hitomi and Lei Fang. There were five boats for use, but she chose this one because it was quite new, unlike the others, old and battered. When they were all on the boat, Christie started the engine. Off they went toward the general direction Christie thought where the plane crash was. Ten minutes have passed and there was still no sign of a plane crash. Then, they saw a plane, half in the water. A rescue ship was already there and survivors were climbing tiredly onto it. Lei Fang heaved a sigh.

'Thankfully...'

'I told you they'd be fine.' Christie said and slapped her back. 'Ok. Let's go back.' She started the engine. Off they went, without waiting for Lei Fang to speak again. After five minutes or so, the dreaded question came.

'Did you see Kenneth back there? Where was he?' Lei Fang asked. None of them had seen him, but the plane and the rescue boat were gone already.

'He'll be fine.' Was all Christie managed to say over the roaring engine.

'What? So you didn't see him? What if he's drowned?' Lei Fang cried, clenching her fists.

'He'll eventually be found.' Christie said.

'Yeah. Found dead?' Lei Fang asked with her mouth curled into a sly grin. Her eyes were red after all that crying.

'You said it. Not me.' Said Christie and focussed on controlling the engine.

'Stop.' Lei Fang said.

'What? We're seven minutes out of sight! They're probably gone on the rescue ship by now!' Said Christie angrily. Hitomi quivered in her place at the tip of the small boat.

'I want to see if he's there!' Lei Fang almost shouted. Christie didn't say a word. Instead, she kept driving back to the island, thinking of nothing but the controls. Lei Fang flung her hands on the rim of the boat angrily. Her gleaming eyes scorched the violent waves bobbing up and down around the boat. Suddenly Hitomi let out a belch.

'Cut it!' Said Christie, her anger still nto dissolved. Hitomi belched again. Christie turned her head to Hitomi, eyes filling with anger and disgust. Hitomi was bent over the rim of the boat, her face sickly green, throwing up all the curry and rice she had for breakfast. And the hot cocoa.

'Gosh, Hitomi! What's wrong with you?' Christie groaned.

'She's seasick.' Said Lei Fang matter-of-factly. Hitomi made a trail of vomit into the sea while the boat sped along.

'I'm sure not gonna go swimming tomorrow.' Lei Fang muttered. Hitomi squelched.

'Where do you think they put the waste from the toilets in boats?' Christie mumbled. She stopped the engine to let Hitomi finish her job. Hitomi spat out a great blob of unknown material and choked on it.

'I...I thought I just saw a dark figure in the water!!' She choked, vomit slopping down her mouth.

'Do people hallucinate while vomiting?' Christie asked Lei Fang as a joke. Lei Fang shook her head. 'Never heard such thing.'

Hitomi pointed at the water. 'I taw it! I twear I taw it!' In spite of vomiting, she was starting to have a heavy nose-bleed.

'When did you start being Tweety, Hitomi?' Lei Fang chimed. 'I tawt I taw a pussy cat!'

Christie joined in. 'I did! I tawt I taw one!' But now Hitomi, pinching her nose, head bent low, had stopped vomitting at all, and was pointing a shaking finger at the water. Surely, a dark shadow was swimming in the sea.

'Kenneth?!' Lei Fang shrieked.

'Shut up! It can't be him.' Christie hushed her. Her hands were now grasping the handle of the engine, ready to start it anytime. She was sweating all over. Could it be...what she thought it would be?

The dark shadow charged out of the water and opened its jaws to the boat's side.

'SHARRRRKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!' Hitomi and Lei Fang yelled in terror. It wasn't big, but the way it came out of the water – horrifying. Christie, all ready to go, started the engine. And they sped off for another safe 5 minutes, chatting about the close shot just now.

'And you, Hitomi. Your head was so close to the water just now!' Lei Fang said.

'Yeah...' Hitomi trembled harder as ever.

The engine stopped. Christie restarted it. Nothing happened.

'Oh no...' She moaned. 'We're not out of fuel, aren't we?' She didn't dare to look at the faces of Lei Fang and Hitomi. The boat was still...so was the water......but not the sky. The sky rumbled, and rain fell down.

'Just what we need now! Out of fuel, rain, and a shtty shark shtting all over!!' Christie swore. They sat silently while the rain pattered on the boat and made tiny ripples on the water. A dark grey fin glided over the uneven surface of the sea, circling the boat.

'Please no...no......' Hitomi murmured. Christie signalled her to stop. 'Sharks are attracted by low noises.' She mouthed. Hitomi looked astonished, and kept her mouth shut. Soon the shark lost interest in circling a clunk of wood and letting the rain drip on its fin. It swam away.

'Whoo...so that's one disaster gone.' Lei Fang stretched her arms and they made a loud clicks. They were all stiff and had held their breaths while the shark was there.

'That was no normal shark.' Murmured Christie. 'I'll explain later.'

'Hey, I never said you should explain!' Lei Fang said. Christie shrugged. The rain fell heavier. The island was only a few hundred metres away. How deep the water was, they had no idea. The rain pattered endlessly. They were drenched from head to toe and shivering in the cold gusts of wind. Christie regretted not taking a spare jacket with her. Both Hitomi and Lei Fang had them. She was only dressed in Panther, looking silly in the panther ears on top of her head and bearing a soaked and drooping tail.

'Why don't we just swim?' Christie suggested, finally having enough of the rain.

'SWIM?! After that SHARK?' Hitomi cried. 'We're desperate, but we're not THAT desperate!'

'Oh, aren't we?' asked Christie. 'We still have one option. To wait till dark, sleep through the storm which might blow us away from the island, and paddle back to the island in the morning.'

'But that shark!'

'I told you, that was no normal shark. It doesn't eat people...' Christie's voice trailed off her lie. _But it has a more deadly weapon than it's jaws._

'I don't understand. What shark doesn't eat people?' Lei Fang questioned.

'Lots of species of sharks don't eat people, thoguh they might attack boats sometimes.' Christie lied to reassure her again. 'If you two can't decide, I'm going back on my own to find another boat and come back to save you. How's it sound?'

'No, that's too risky. You can't do that!' Hitomi said.

'I – don't – care!' Said Christie. And she dived into the sea, leaving the others bewildered and afraid. Christie always enjoyed diving, especially into the sea, where it's cold. (a/n: see the trailer before DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball. She dived into the sea. Naked.) But now, being splashed in the cold rain for over half an hour, she didn't like it. She popped her head out of the water and looked back at them. _They still haven't got off the damn boat!_ Christie thought. She waved at them. Lei Fang looked at Hitomi and didn't know what to do. Christie waved goodbye to them and shouted, 'I'll wait for you at the shore!'

Hitomi cried back, 'You're attracting sharks!'

Christie smiled and waved, 'So stop it!'

'No! Look!' Hitomi pointed at the trail of blood her nose-bleed left in the sea. Christie's heart sank. Why didn't Hitomi alert her before? She dived back into the sea and swam as fast as she could back to the shore. As long as the blood was far away from her, she would be safe. After two minutes of breathless swimming, Christie reached the area where the water was shallow and waded her way to the sand. Panting hard, she fell onto the sand, breathing fresh oxygen into her poor lungs. She realised the rain had stopped. She looked in the distance. They were still there, but Lei Fang seemed to be talking Hitomi into swimming back. Then, Christie heard a distant cry from Lei Fang.

'WHAT??? YOU CAN'T SWIM??' Oh no, Christie thought. She untied a rope from another boat and signalled to Lei Fang that she would get a boat and save them. But Lei Fang shook her head, no. She knew she was tired as hell already. Finally, Christie saw Hitomi slip into the water, followed closely by Lei Fang. Then they breast-stroked slowly back to the shore, Hitomi holding on to Lei Fang, almost suffocating her.

It was a whole five minutes then Lei Fang was dragging an unconscious Hitomi back on the sand. Christie rushed to help her. She slapped Hitomi's face.

'Wake up, slow poke!'

'H..huh?' Hitomi opened her eyes. She did look a mess. Traces of dried up vomit was still seen at the corner of her mouth, dry blood was around her nose, and her eyes were a bit swollen.

'C'mon. We'll get you back to the hotel.' Christie put Hitomi's arm around her shoulder, and together with an exhausted Lei Fang they went back to the hotel.

a/n: That's it!!!! Bit of a horror I came up with, since my homework is piling up a nightmare!


	7. Suspiscions

Christie's Life on Zack Island

Chapter Seven

Suspiscions

a/n: Hey Sarah thanks for the tips!!!! Sorry for the late update, I had school.

They were all exhausted. They had brought Hitomi all the way back to the Niki Beach and the restaurant was finally seen in the distance. It looked dreadful; chairs and tables were upside down, the huge umbrellas were stuck with palm tree leaves, lying in a corner, and the food on the buffet tables were, of course, all over the place. The sun peeped over the clouds, and the temperature was rising back to its normal state. Christie's arm was already sore of carrying Hitomi. She had swam a long way and at high speed. Her face was smeared with leaves, sand and blood from Hitomi's continuing nose-bleed. Lei Fang looked even more wind swept: the sea water had replaced her neat braids with strings of seaweed knotted in her now rough and tangled hair. Hitomi, well, her face was a ghastly green, her muscled arms with bruises and violent burns. She staggered along between the two, unable to support herself at all.

'PHEW!!!' Lei Fang sighed as the three collapsed on the wooden deck of the dreary restaurant. Hitomi's head nodded to her side in exhaustion; she looked as if she couldn't even support her head. Christie lied down on the wet leaves and dirt, flinging her arms aside.

'Next...time......learn...how...to...swim!' She panted. Hitomi was all but too tired enough to nod in response. They lied there for a few minutes or so, looking blankly at the silver-lined clouds. Christie sat up with regained strength and, with great difficulty, got up.

'Anyone want to get back to the hotel?' She asked, squinting at the others. Her eyes stung from the salty sea water. Lei Fang heaved a great sigh and pushed herself up.

'All right......Hitomi?' The broken down teenager grabbed a wooden pole and hauled herself up. Her eyebrows furrowed as her strained muscles tightened to bring her up.

'Ok...' She wheezed. 'Let's go...'

They went up the stairs (Hitomi with great difficulty) slowly to the corridor. It was just the same as they last saw it. That was funny to think, because they've got into so much trouble just now, and when they come back, the whole place looks calm and peaceful, as if nothing had happened. Christie opened the unlocked door to her room and invited the others inside.

It was strangely messy. She even wondered if someone had broken in.

Her bed covers were ripped out and her pillows were on the floor. The vanity desk drawers were open and all the contents have been thrown out. Her wardrobe was flung open. The balcony door was on its hinge, squeaking. But none of this, _none _of this, could be compared to what Christie saw then.

The television was turned on.

It was not a program.

It was not the news.

The VCR was on.

The TV suddenly turned itself off.

But Christie already remembered what she saw in that split second.

'Heck this place looks a mess!' Hitomi cried.

'Yeah.' Christie said numbly. Hitomi and Lei Fang obviously haven't seen the image the TV showed. It turned itself off so quickly.

She understood everything. She picked up her clothes and put them back to the wardrobe. She put all the contents from her drawer back. _Yes, yes, I'll show you. You don't have to make my room like this for doing all that. _Although tired, her two companions helped her tidy up her room. When everything was done, they flopped onto her soft and cozy bed.

'What's with the mess, Christie? I know I shouldn't ask this because maybe you...you understand everything and I may sound stupid, but I'm really curious.' Hitomi said with her eyes closed, head on her pillow.

'Ayane...she did all this......she made us get into all this trouble............' Christie snorted.

'Chris....I know...I know Ayane is....evil.....' Hitomi mumbled absent-mindedly, still not having a clue what her mouth is brawling about. She yawned. 'She's a ninja, right? Y'know...I'm sleepy...........' Her voice trailed off into a snore. Lei Fang was also asleep on her bed. Christie as grateful they both didn't see what the television showed. It would freak them out. But later on when they're fully awake, the questions will come......

It was six o'clock in the evening. The sun set in a most hesitant way, and unlike it's usual gloating, it seemed to have found the worst painters to paint the sky, and hid itself behind the grey clouds almost immediately(a/n: Means the sun set quickly and without any beauty at all. Copyright!! ). Christie had had a shower and was almost as good as new and put on Alexandrite reluctantly. She swore that she'd buy a swimsuit later. Lei Fang and Hitomi had woke up at five. All three hadn't spoke much since then. Hitomi had no idea what she was doing in Christie's room and why her arms were bruised. She figured she'd been harassed. Christie, despite being humiliated of Hitomi saying that she'd been attacked in her room, let Hitomi stay with her conclusion for a while. Lei Fang, though, only remembered dragging Hitomi back to shore and lying on the wooden deck. Christie had no intention to say what they've been through. The story was not to be mentioned.

'Ah......' Hitomi (or her stomach) groaned as they went down to the now mysteriously cleaned-up restaurant. 'Whatever I've done just now has totally worn me out...grrrr I'm so hungry!!' She stamped her foot on the wooden floorboards. Everything in the restaurant was neat and tidy. The buffet tables were laden with heaps of roti, tandoori and Indian prawn chips, which gave out wafts of fragrance along with the sticks of Jasmine incense. Beaded curtains were drawn over the door and windows, and cushions and small tables replaced the tables and chairs.

'Whoa...' Lei Fang whispered. 'Zack sure did a good job in hiding the wreckage.' Christie nodded. They found themselves a cozy spot of silk cushions and slumped into the rich and luxurious pile of bliss.

'Oh...' Hitomi sighed in joy. 'I don't want to get up now!'

'Just like Monica and beanbags.' Lei Fang said with her eyes shut.

'I guess you two aren't getting up anyway.' Christie said, disgusted at their behavior. 'Lazybones.'

'I'll have a gazillion stacks of roti, two plates of tandoori, a glass of milk, a plate of curry n' rice and any kind of dessert please.' Lei Fang ordered before Christie could get up.

'And I'll have a mountain of prawn chips!' Piped out Hitomi.

'Very well then!' Christie growled and set off to the buffet tables.

She got three plates and piled one with two pieces of roti and slapped a gallon of curry. After bringing that back to the table, she snatched the spatula and began to stack tons of roti onto it, until even the ones on the buffet table had gone. Then she mounded oodles of tandoori and a gigantic mountain of prawn chips onto the other plate.

'I'm STARVING!!!!!!!' Hitomi cried, shoving dozens of prawn chips into her mouth at once.

'Hey take it easy. Enjoy the food slowly.' Christie said, charging at a sizzling potato with her fork. 'Appreciate it that _someone _would help you get your food.' She returned to her beloved curry potatoes.

The night was dim. Most of the light came from the lanterns and candles. There was hardly any moon. Tina and Lisa were eating out on the deck, chatting loudly as usual and Ayane was having her plain white rice and soup all by herself. The place was remarkably quiet at the moment.

The thoughts about the TV in the room floated back into Christie's mind, disturbing her more than ever. The image only showed for a second or more, but it was vivid, till now. The videocamera which taped it seemed to be on the wall of a hotel room, and a figure wearing some kind of traditional costume was back-facing the camera, chanting some kind of spell in a low voice. She wore a black hood, so Christie couldn't see her hair colour. Her voice was too low to identify. But somehow Christie thought it might be Ayane. Who else could chant spells? It also looked as if the girl was being _secretly_ videotaped. Somebody had put a small videocamera in the girl's room to tape her actions – and play it on Christie's TV. _And_ set her TV to switch off at the exact same moment Christie went into her room so that only she could see it, and Leifang and Hitomi wouldn't know anything about it. And set the tape to self-destruct on time. This person must've had a lot of nerve and understood her a lot to do that. But coming to the most important question – why – _why_ – did that someone have to put a videocamera in a girl's room to tape her actions? Was that someone trying to tell Christie something about the girl? To tell her that the girl is some kind of 'witch'? What the use is that....?

'Oi, Chris!' Leifang shook Christie, who had been submerged in thought for a while, her potatoes in curry all cold. Followed by this was a humongous belch from Hitomi, who was lying satisfyingly on a pile of cushions with a toothpick in her mouth. 'Not hungry?'

'Er...no, nothing.' Christie wolfed down the rest of her food hungrily. The sudden suspiscions of the TV had made her hungrier somehow.

'Hey, wanna buy some swimsuits?' She asked them, debating whether she should tell them about the TV.

'Oh, sure, I'm stuffed. I need a walk.' Hitomi hiccuped.

They walked slowly to the Sports Shop. Leifang and Hitomi who were usually talkative, were so full that they hardly spoke a word on the way. Soon they were choosing swimsuits excitedly, no longer sleepy anymore.

'Guys, what do you think of this?' Leifang flourished _Albatross_ in front of them. Hitomi's jaw dropped, as well as the hanger in her hand.

'OH-MY-GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' She screamed, hugging the blue bikini. It had three thick blue, white and turquoise horizontal stripes and shadows of palm trees. 'It's amazing!!! Please please please can I have it??' Christie sniggered at her.

'Why, of course! Wow, and it's so cheap too...' Leifang added Albatross to her basket.

Staring blankly at the ceiling, Christie was lying on her queen-sized bed back in her room after the exhausting day. She longed to shut her eyes and sleep, but the tension of the happenings that day were just too much for her.

She had checked the videotape put into her VCR which showed the image. Of course, the image has been erased, but surprisngly, labelled on the side of the tape were the words 'she did it'. Christie had thought the person who taped the image wouldn't give her clue of what was happening, but then, maybe this person was trying to help her. To help her do what? To help her solve the mystery of the day. Why were all the people saved in 5 minutes time by the rescue ship? Why did the rescue ship come so quickly? Shouldn't have they heard at least _some_ voices of people when their speedboat steered close to the sinking plane? But the place was lifeless. It was like there were no people on the sinking plane afterall.

And why...why did Hitomi have a nosebleed just before the shark came? It's hard to make a mess if you have a nosebleed, and some of the blood _did _drop into the sea, which resulted as the shark's coming. Was it possible that Hitomi had a nosebleed on purpose to drive the shark near them? Suddenly it hit her.

Hitomi was the source of all the happenings. Why didn't Hitomi, who must've been very scared at that time, stop Leifang and Christie from going out to sea to see if there were any survivors on the plane? Did Hitomi really not know how to swim? Did she just faked it so that she could drown Leifang in the water? Like what she almost did?

She fell asleep into a dream of blood and murder, and sharks with laser beams on their head......

a/n: I know, I know, lame ending, but I really can't think of anything else to write.


	8. Poisoned

Chapter Eight

Poisoned

A/n: I'm so sorry for not updating for a long time (for 21 days to be exact)!! There's school and there's homework...and hopefully I've squeezed out some time on this weekend to carry on with it. Thanks for the reviews!!

Magical cactus: Ok I will.

?????????: Thanks for reading! I'll try to update sooner.

Orion: Thanks!

Aerosmith: note to self Finish my homework before Sunday.

Buzzer: See below.

Ocean mess: Thanks for the advice! Well actually Hitomi and Lei Fang were a bit stupid in Chapter Seven, having forgotten _everything_ about the hurricane. It's supposed to be a part of the plot, but you can see that it's poorly made. I just had a bunch of facts in my head and wanted to put them all into a chapter at the time, so you see...

'I really saw her!'

'You're not even sure about it.'

'I AM! And you can see for yourself next morning.'

'He's not even here.'

'Well who else would be wearing a Chinese outfit and gel his hair like that? It must be him.'

'Look, Hitomi's innocent. There is _no way_ she can be with Lee. They don't even have any relationship! They're complete strangers with each other!'

'Shh...'

The frantic whisperings of Lei Fang and Helena awakened Christie. Now she was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to catch the fragments of words they were saying next door. _So the whisperings I heard after the Truth of Dare game that night were actually Lei Fang and Helena...I wonder what they're up to._ She thought. But the whisperings had died down already. She almost kicked herself for not paying attention. She would've got some information out of them if she had continued to listen. Hitomi and Jann Lee? Having an affair? It simply didn't make sense.

She glanced at her digital alarm clock. Six in the morning. Quite a normal time to knock on someone's door without leading to suspicion. She knocked on Lei Fang and Helenas' door. Without waiting for a reply or something, she opened it herself. Funny enough though, they were standing right in front of it, as if that was the best place to share secrets without anyone eavesdropping. Their jaws dropped.

'What are you doing here?' Lei Fang blurted out, a bit impolitely.

'The question is what you _both are_ doing here.' Christie said.

'Why, preparing ourselves for breakfast!' Helena came to Lei Fang's aid.

'That's silly.' Christie replied. 'Lei Fang, we need to talk.'

'Sure.' The confused girl joined her in the corridor and shut the door behind her. 'What's up?'

'I've been thinking...have you noticed anything...strange about Hitomi recently?'

Fang's eyes widened. 'Like...what?'

'Like...her nose bleed attracted the sharks?'

'You can't control a nose bleed.'

'Yeah...and the plane didn't have any survivors on it when we approached it.'

'They were on the rescue ship!'

'Even the rescue ship came a bit earlier than normal...we didn't even hear any voices. Isn't that strange? Let's talk inside.' Christie opened the door to her own room, went inside with Fang, turned on the sound proof shield (just kidding) and locked the door.

'Well...I've thought of that, but it isn't that important...' Fang muttered.

'That shark almost killed us. We could've died.'

'Hey don't talk like that. We're lucky we survived. This is a tropical island. The coast is bound to have sharks in it!'

'Really? Then Tina doesn't know about it. She swims every day on Bass Island...'

There was a thoughtful pause between them.'

'Okay...I admit that Hitomi is a little ev-' Fang quickly covered her mouth.

'What did you just say?' Christie grinned.

'ALRIGHT SHE'S EVIL!! SHE SLEPT WITH JANN LEE!!!!!!!!' Lei Fang pounded her fists on Christie's bed.

'Shh...she can hear us.'

'I hate her...I want to kill her!!!' Fang clenched her fist and punched the air.

'Tell me...how did this happen?' Christie acted innocence.

'It was just after the Truth or Dare game that night. I wanted to get a drink so I headed to the drinks machines and told Hitomi to go back to her room first. We intended to stay in our own rooms because we were too tired to watch TV in her room together, like we normally do. Just when I got back to the hotel, holding two drinks in my hands, I went to Hitomi's to give her one. Strangely, she didn't open the door. I thought maybe she was listening music with her headphones on, so I went back to my balcony. I peered over at _her_ balcony which is right beside mine, and looked through the window to see what she was up to. And...' Fang squeezed her eyes tight and two tears streamed down. 'She was lying on the bed with Jann. They were holding each other....oh...' She sniffed and began to sob.

'I see...are you sure about what you saw?'

'Yes. Positive.'

'Did Hitomi know about you and Lee?'

'Of course she knew, that btch! I told her all my deepest secrets to her and she betrayed me...'

'She's ruining our lives. First she betrayed you and then she intended to kill us.'

Fang knew where Christie was heading.

'You want to...get rid of her?' She said, choosing her words carefully.

'What else can we do? Paradise is no paradise with her in our lives.' Christie decided.

'Sure I hate her, but I don't want to...kill her.'

'I never said I wanted to kill her, although the idea sounds much appealing.'

'No, we can't do that! It bends the law of the whole universe!'

Christie looked at her as if she were insane.

'There are billions of lives on Earth. It doesn't hurt to kill one.'

'But you're an assassin! Of course you've killed many people. I can't.'

'Again, I never said you have to join in. Do you really want Jann back?'

'What do you mean, back? He's already mine!'

'You're looking it from the wrong direction. If Hitomi had the nerve to seduce him, why would he fall for her? He must have feelings for her in order to lie on the same bed with her.'

'He didn't...no...Jann is mine......'

'Whatever you say now makes no difference! They love each other. If Hitomi's gone, such cold people like Lee wouldn't even miss her. He only wanted her, physically.'

'I bet that slut seduced him so much that he couldn't refuse...' Fang sniffed.

'What we need...is something that will make Hitomi disappear for a while, long enough to make Lee forget about her, also preferably long enough to let her miss the fourth tournament!'

'There isn't any fourth tournament. The last one's called DOA Ultimate, a combination of DOA 1, when we turn into ugly square characters and DOA 2, which you aren't in. Hitomi isn't in DOA 2 either. You have to unlock her.' Lei Fang said wisely.

'You have to unlock her? Oh. So hmm, does she like strawberries?' Christie said, steering the subject away from her disappearance at DOA2.

'Yeah. I always bring a bowl of strawberries and cream with me when we hang out at the beach. She only likes the cream though. She never touches the strawberries.'

'Oh. I see. What about we poison the strawberries, you force her to eat one, and she flies away by plane to the nearest hospital and recovers for a long time?'

'Uh...sounds great! And it wouldn't even kill her.'

'I've got the poison. I'll give it to you later in the afternoon; you sprinkle it on top of the strawberries, and give her one. Force it into her mouth if you need to. Deal?'

'Deal.'

If you want to know what happens next, see my sister alennademi688211's Death by Strawberries. Actually she made the story first, but then I added it to mine just to get rid of Hitomi.....naughty me. Here's the 

Have fun reading it!

The plane zoomed off to the distance while Christie and Fang tried hard not to smile. Kasumi, Ayane, Tina, Lisa and Helena finished waving at the plane and headed back to their rooms.

'That sure was easy, wasn't it? Pity there wasn't any blood. I had a type of poison that could've made her spit blood, but that would've been suspicious.' Christie said with a note of happiness in her voice. Fang sighed.

'What do you want to do next?' Christie asked. 'Invite Jann to the island? Spend some nights with him? I can do a few days without volleyball.'

'I'm your partner now? Great! And thanks so much for giving me the poison!'

'As for the assassination fee, it's twenty thousand eight hundred seventy two and fifty seven cents. Payment in cash is most welcome.' Christie recited.

'Huh?!?!' Fang screamed.

'Wait a sec, the poison I gave you is high-class poison ash, a tree only found in the remote West Indies!'

'Oh, alright then. I'll give you the check later. But just because I'll be broke after that, I'll be spending the whole day pool-hopping and playing volley to earn money.'

Christie grinned. The poison was not in fact poison ash, but simply an easy formula of the Lysol and liquid soap in her bathroom, two easily found and cheap materials that are poisonous.

Days passed quickly without warning. Lei Fang spent most of her time with Jann, Christie heard, and Jann had given her a lot of cash to 'buy swimsuits'. Christie herself pool-hopped through the day and immediately saw, as a result, her legs becoming stronger. It wasn't until the last day of her vacation that she decided to pay Lei Fang a visit. She hadn't seen her since Hitomi left, as she feared she would disturb Lei Fang and Jann Lee...

She knocked on her door. When no reply came, she went in herself. The room was a complete mess. The bed was unmade, clothes were everywhere, the TV was on, bits of food were spread on the ground. Lei Fang was sitting back-face to Christie in front of her vanity desk. Beside her was a box of tissues.

'What's going on?' Christie gasped. 'Where's Jann and why...?'

Lei Fang sounded as if she had been crying.

'Go away, you...'

'Wh-why?'

'GO AWAY!!!'

'What the hell's going on? Tell me!'

But there came no reply. After waiting for five painstaking minutes, Christie left and asked Helena about it.

'Didn't you know? She called Jann a few days ago, ze day Hitomi left in fact, but eet turned out zat Jann really did love Hitomi, and blamed Lei Fang for her illness!' Helena explained to Christie an hour later at the cafeteria. The place was buzzing with the sounds of clinking utensils and chatting.

'Then what has she been doing in the past few days?' Christie asked.

'Crying. Sleeping. She hasn't been eating at all. I had to send her some food every day to make sure she eats properly.' Helena said pitifully. 'And...' She lowered her voice. 'One more zeeng...'

She took out videotape.

'Zis is ze tape I put into your VCR. Eet eez a copy.'

'You...you put it there?'

'Oui! I wanted you to know zat Kasumi eez...evil.'

'Then Ayane...?'

'What about Ayane? She's just a leetle beet naughty, zat's all.'

Everything clicked in Christie's mind.

'So Kasumi set the rescue ship? She set the sharks? And she did...everything?'

'Yes. She has zee power to do eet. She knows spells and things.'

'Then Hitomi...'

'Hitomi? What about her?'

So Hitomi was innocent.

'Oh, I know what you're talking about.' Said Helena. 'Jann seduced Hitomi, and not ze uzzer way round.'

The door to conclusions was open. Everything was clear. Christie cannot control the speed of her mind connecting the facts and conclusions. It was all too quick. And it was time to go.

They aboard the plane, all except Kasumi, who had probably magicked herself back to Japan. The plane ride was exhausting.

A/n: OK YOU CAN ALL KILL ME NOW. I know it's absolute CRAP. And it's the ending. Phew. I'm writing some short stories now...


End file.
